National Weather Service forecast for Gainesville
Sunday: Slight chance of rain before 1 p.m., then a chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 37 and gusty winds up to 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent; little or no snow accumulation expected.
Sunday night: A 50 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 1 a.m. Low around 20, winds still gusting up to 30 mph. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Monday: Mostly sunny, high near 29. Windy, west wind blowing between 20 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Overnight low down to around 14.
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The first snow of the season was expected to hit Georgia early today, with temperatures forecasted to teeter near freezing for the next few days, according to the National Weather Service.
Early rain showers are expected to give way to snow this afternoon, but no accumulation is expected. But temperatures will dip into the teens tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
"It is a little bit early for these temperatures," said Robert Garcia, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. "Usually maybe in a month or a month and a half from now this might be a bit closer to normal."
Teri Pope, spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, said salt trucks will be ready if road conditions worsen.
"From November through Easter we leave work on Friday nights ready (with) all the snow plows attached to the dump trucks so that if we do get the call over the weekend, we can be on the road spreading salt within an hour," she said.
Temperatures are expected to rise by the end of the week, with the projected high near 50 on Thursday and Friday. Until then, the National Weather Service is advising North Georgia residents to prepare for an "arctic blast."
At Full Bloom Nursery in Clermont, owner Kellie Bowen said she plans to close shop on Monday.
"We're an outdoor business and we're supposed to have snow on the ground and ice on the ground," she said. "And we don't want people out here walking around on the ice."