(STORM WATCH ATLANTA) ATLANTA GA
BY: DAVID DUTTON
12:30 PM ET SUN 1/5/13
Some of the coldest air we’ve seen in the southeast and Atlanta is headed our way. This is a very life threatening cold that is moving in! You should protect yourself, your family, your pets, and your property now from extreme cold! Make sure your battery in your car is working properly.
A powerful arctic cold front is about to blast into the state early Monday morning. One forecast model shows a “flash freeze” happening overnight around 3am. This means, for example, the temp is at 46 at 2am, then it drops to 26 by 3am! That’s a 20 degree drop in 1 hour! That would instantly freeze everything immediately! Rain is expected to move into and across the state late tonight. As the rain moves in, the cold front will be not far behind. Just before the cold front moves in, it may actually warm up into the lower 50s this evening as warm moist air moves in from the gulf. This should increase the moisture. Just after midnight as the cold front approaches, The rain should begin to change over to a wintry mix, rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow. Then, as the cold front plows into the area around 3am, all presip should change over to all snow. The main window for the all snow event should be from 3am to 6am, then taper off to flurries by 9am and be gone by Noon Monday.
[ACCUMULATIONS]
Up to an inch is expected across North GA north of Atlanta, with a dusting in metro Atlanta and a glaze of Ice in west GA. I think the main concern in Atlanta will be from “BLACK ICE” that will form after 3am as all of Sunday nights rain and presip freezes!
If you must drive across metro Atlanta and north GA Monday, use extreme caution! I don’t think we will get above freezing, 32, till sometime Wednesday afternoon! That is 3 days below freezing!
This is not going to be a major winter storm. We have seen worse than this before in the past, but i think it will be just enough to cause travel problems as everyone heads back to work and school.
It will be 7 degrees in Atlanta on Tuesday morning with wind chills below zero as most kids head back to school from winter break. This is dangerously cold for anyone, esp young children. If schools are open, please dress them in several layers of clothing and take them to school if at all possible so they won’t have to stand out in the cold. Check on the elderly and make sure they have heating that is safe.
*Stay with us for continuing coverage of the snow and the cold all week until this system and cold air passes. We will be here with continue updates and live coverage if needed.
SWA 