Less than two weeks ago, North Georgia received a couple of inches of snow and ice. Now, the possibility of snow, sleet and freezing rain returns as early as tonight.
The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for North Georgia from 7 tonight through 7 p.m. Tuesday. A watch is in effect through Thursday morning.
“We are very confident on a winter-weather event occurring,” Alex Gibbs, meteorologist with the organization’s Peachtree City office, said Sunday. “We are medium on where the bulk of the weather will occur, and we are low-to-medium on the accumulation amounts.
“That is mainly because it is Tuesday into Wednesday that we are concerned with. That doesn’t mean there won’t be snow in the North Georgia area as early as (tonight).”
The winter weather warning lists possible accumulation of between 1 and 3 inches during the day Tuesday and an additional 2 to 4 inches Tuesday night through Thursday morning.
Gibbs said Sunday that freezing rain is the main concern Tuesday into Wednesday because of the possibility of ice forming on top of accumulated snow and sleet, and the cold temperatures.
The forecast calls for snow to begin in North Georgia in the overnight hours tonight into Tuesday, with a low temperature hovering above the freezing mark at 33 degrees. A wintry mix could continue Tuesday morning, changing back to snow in the afternoon and then rain, with a high temperature of 35.
The precipitation could continue into Tuesday night as freezing rain, snow and sleet with a low of 28. More snow is possible early Wednesday with temperatures hovering around freezing, with a chance of snow continuing into Wednesday night.
Gibbs said this winter-weather event will be more “prolonged” than the one two weeks ago and could last through Thursday.
During that storm, businesses and schools shut down across Hall County for several days.
In a news release Sunday night, Gov. Nathan Deal said he had put emergency response agencies on alert and began significant preparations.
“We’ve included health officials and power companies in our preparations because heavy downfalls of ice can knock out power supply,” Deal said. “I want to make sure we’re reaching out to health care facilities so they can have backup plans in place.”
Deal will activate the state operations center this afternoon and it will run until the response ends.
The city of Atlanta was preparing to pretreat priority roads and bridges beginning today at 6 p.m., according to Carlos Campos, a spokesman for Mayor Kasim Reed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.