Good evening, Athens and North Georgia! If you made your way outside today, you noticed that our taste of winter continued today as our overnight lows in the 20s only warmed into the mid-40s, with some portions of the regions struggling to escape the upper 30s. With a bit of wind mixed in some locales (especially north of Atlanta), today was undoubtedly a bit brisk. It is also a good reminder to ensure that you dress correctly throughout this chilly week and take all necessary precautions against freeze-related hazards.
We will remain cold and dry area-wide as we go into tonight and tomorrow. In Athens, the low should bottom out near 24, with highs tomorrow only rebounding into the mid-40s. Elsewhere across North Georgia, lows will similarly drop into the low-20s. Highs will also struggle to rebound, with some portions of the area likely remaining below 40 for another day. The windiness will likely pick up area-wide tomorrow due to a feature passing to our northeast, so "Feels Like" temperatures will be even colder than the ambient temperature. The cold will continue into tomorrow evening, with lows expected to dip again into the lower or middle 20s.
We also continue to monitor an evolving winter weather situation area-wide Friday through early Saturday. Although it is critical to note that the details of this event still require much fine-tuning and are thus subject to change, confidence is increasing that portions of North GA will experience some wintry precipitation at some juncture between Friday morning and early Saturday morning. Ingredients-wise, antecedent cold air is expected to be in place when moisture begins to surge northward Friday morning ahead of an area of surface low pressure to our south. As this occurs, the current expectation is that the onset of precipitation will likely be frozen area-wide, most likely in the form of snow. From there, the forecast becomes a bit more hairy, with certainty decreasing with southern extent. At this time, it appears that the most northern parts of the region (with increasing certainty the further north one travels) will experience mostly snow from this event. Closer to the Athens and Atlanta Metro areas, precipitation type may vary throughout the day based on exactly where the freezing line sets up at the surface, potentially switching from snow in the morning to freezing rain/wintry mix later in the afternoon (or potentially a very cold rain, should temperatures be a couple of degrees warmer than currently forecast). Forecast models have been more aggressive today in maintaining near or below-freezing temperatures across much of the area throughout the day (which would likely materialize in more wintry precipitation); however, it is worth noting that even better model solutions will continue to roll out as we near the event, so it is essential you stayed tuned into the National Weather Service, local media, and Weather Dawgs to ensure you have the most accurate forecast information.
Stay warm and safe out there! Go DAWGS!!!
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