National Weather Service forecast for Gainesville
Today: A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 48. Windy, with a west wind between 15 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Tonight: A chance of rain and snow showers. Cloudy, with a low around 35. West wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Tuesday: A slight chance of snow showers before 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. West wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. West wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 60. Calm wind becoming west between 5 and 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 43.
Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 69.
Saturday and Sunday made for a beautiful spring weekend — sunny and breezy with highs in the low 70s — but tonight it may dip below freezing and you could see some flurries or snow showers.
Welcome to spring in North Georgia.
But then, you already felt that nip at your nose this morning, as the front that began moving in Sunday night brought the temperatures below the norm for early spring.
“It’s definitely not unheard of,” National Weather Service meteorologist Matt Sena said of the about-face in the weather. “It’s a transition time of year when we’re going from winter to spring ... and the swings in temperature are more pronounced this time of year.”
The fast-moving system is expected to clear out by midweek, and it should warm up into the 70s again by Wednesday.
While the chance for snow tonight is very slight, Sena said the quick-moving front bears watching as it moves through. If it pulls in more moisture, the chance for snow accumulation could increase a bit.
But local kids shouldn’t count on building a snowman during this week’s spring break — Sena said while there could be some accumulation in the mountains north of Hall County, it most likely would just be a dusting of snow on grass.
The bigger concern is the wind expected today and tonight, he said. The National Weather Service on Sunday issued a wind advisory for much of North Georgia as forecasters expect winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph. This could mean a danger of falling trees, Sena said.
“The grounds is fairly wet and a lot of our trees are stressed because of the drought,” he said.
The cold weather and wind are not a good mix for any early plants, as Tuesday morning is expected to be even colder. So if you’ve already set out your tomatoes or any other plants that don’t like the chill, you’ll need to cover them up or bring them inside. Sena said the freezing temperatures could even extend into central Georgia.
So it’s going to be cold and windy and the freeze could kill your tender young plants. Is there any good news in this storm front?
Well, there’s not widespread severe weather with this storm, Sena said, and no flooding rain is expected.
“As wet as the ground is already, it should run right into the creeks and steams and what little we get will continue to fill up the lake,” he said.
That would be good news to everyone.