Visit gainesvilletimes.com throughout the weekend for complete weather updates.
Winter Weather Tips
National Weather Service: Forecast for Gainesville
National Weather Service: Winter Weather Advisory
National Weather Service: Radar for North Georgia
National Weather Service: Special Weather Statement
This Afternoon: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 1pm, then showers likely. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. High near 53. Southeast wind around 10 mph becoming north. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent.
Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 35. North wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Sunday: Rain and snow likely, becoming all snow after 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 39. 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.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27.
But before the snow arrives, expect a wet, blustery - and, at times, stormy - Saturday.
Rain, which could be heavy at times, should continue throughout the day on Saturday, but could switch to snow by sunrise Sunday, said Laura Griffith, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City. The chance of snow could continue until about midnight, Griffith said.
The weather service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of North and Central Georgia for Sunday. The weather service says the chance of snow is 60 percent Sunday and 30 percent Sunday night.
Griffith said accumulations aren't expected to top one inch because the temperature will remain above freezing on Sunday. The temperature drops to about 26 degrees Sunday night, but weather service does not anticipate travel problems at this time.
"Whatever accumulations you get in the Gainesville area shouldn't stick around too long," she said.
Sunday's forecast calls for rain and snow likely, becoming all snow in the afternoon. It will be windy, with gusts up to 30 mph.
The possibility of snow comes at the end of a wet few days in Georgia and the Southeast. A flash flood watch for north Georgia was canceled about noon Saturday.
As of noon Saturday, 1.71 inches of rain had fallen at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville, according to the National Weather Service Web site. As much as 3 inches of precipitation could fall by Monday, the weather service said.
The rain has been good for Lake Lanier. At noon, the lake was at 1,057.14 feet, less than 14 feet below pool. The lake is about five feet above the level it was at this time last year.
On Saturday morning, the heaviest rain and storms were in middle Georgia. The weather service had issued several severe thunderstorm warnings and at least two tornado warnings for areas just south of Macon.
While Griffith said most of the severe weather was expected south of Atlanta today, she said severe thunderstorms were possible in the Gainesville area.
The wet stuff finally moves out overnight Sunday. Monday's forecast calls for sunny skies and a temperature of 46 degrees.
Visit gainesvilletimes.com throughout the weekend for complete weather updates.