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National Weather Service: Forecast for Gainesville
National Weather Service: Radar for North Georgia
Tonight: A chance of rain showers before 1am, then a chance of rain and snow showers. Some thunder is also possible. Cloudy, with a low around 37. North wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Sunday: Rain and snow likely before 1pm, then a chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 43. North wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New snow accumulation of less than one inch possible.
Sunday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow before 1am. Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly clear, with a low around 26. Northwest wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 46. Northwest wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Today will begin with heavy rain and the threat of severe weather, and it will end with temperatures dropping to near freezing and an increasing chance of snow.
But before you pull that sled and those snow shoes out of storage, you should know that National Weather Service said that little to no accumulation of snow is expected.
Today's forecast calls for occasional showers and thunderstorms, some of them with the potential to produce heavy rain and high winds. Rain is likely to turn to snow overnight tonight and during the day Sunday, said Jessica Fieux, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City.
The snow showers are possible all day Sunday, when skies finally will begin to clear, the temperatures will plummet and winds will gust to 20 mph. There is a slight chance of snow continuing into Sunday night.
Fieux said residents might see a dusting of snow on grassy areas, but the snow is not expected to impact travel.
Temperatures will fall to the low 30s tonight and won't get out of the 30s on Sunday. The low temperature Sunday night will be around 23 degrees, the weather service said.
A flood watch continues for most of North Georgia, including Gainesville and surrounding counties, until late today.
Fieux said the severe weather will be possible throughout the day, and she urged residents to keep an eye on the weather.
Tonight, the temperature drops to about 34 degrees in Gainesville and the rain could switch to snow, Fieux said.
The flood watch was issued Friday morning as a line of heavy rain entered the state. Forecasters have predicted that 2-3 inches of rain could fall by tonight. As of 7 a.m. Friday, 1.37 inches of rain had fallen at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville, according to the weather service Web site.
The rainfall is welcome news for Lake Lanier. At 7 a.m. Saturday, the lake level was 1,057.09 feet, about 14 feet below full pool.
But the rain likely will cause some rivers, streams and creeks to flood. Some flash flooding also is possible in urban areas and mountainous terrain because of rapid runoff.
A flood watch means conditions are favorable for flooding especially along larger streams and rivers.