Health & Fitness
The Coldest Air in Several Years to Arrive Monday
Maybe a few chances for some snow flakes along the way!
UPDATE: Thursday 10PM
BARTOW-CHEROKEE-FORSYTH-HALL-BANKS-JACKSON-POLK-PAULDING-COBB-
NORTH FULTON-GWINNETT-BARROW-HARALSON-CARROLL-DOUGLAS-
SOUTH FULTON-DEKALB-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...CARTERSVILLE...GAINESVILLE...MARIETTA...
ATLANTA...LAWRENCEVILLE...CARROLLTON...DOUGLASVILLE...
EAST POINT...DECATUR
1001 PM EST THU JAN 2 2014
...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST FRIDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PEACHTREE CITY HAS ISSUED A
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR IMPACTS FROM ICY ROADS AND LIGHT
SNOW...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM EST FRIDAY.
* LOCATIONS...NORTH OF A CARROLLTON TO JEFFERSON LINE.
* HAZARD TYPES...HAZARDOUS ROAD CONDITIONS DUE TO BLACK ICE... AND
LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS. WIND CHILLS WILL ALSO BE VERY COLD.
* ACCUMULATIONS...A TRACE TO HALF INCH.
* TIMING...THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
* IMPACTS...MAIN IMPACTS WILL BE FROM RAPIDLY FALLING
TEMPERATURES WHILE THE ROADWAYS ARE STILL WET. TEMPERATURES
WILL FALL INTO THE 20S THIS EVENING ALLOWING FOR SLICK SPOTS
ON AREA ROADWAYS.
* WINDS...NORTHWEST 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.
* TEMPERATURES...DROPPING INTO THE IN THE UPPER TEENS TO LOWER 20S.
* WIND CHILL READINGS...AS LOW AS 5 ABOVE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF BLACK ICE AND
LIGHT SNOW WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR
SLIPPERY ROADS...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.
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UPDATE: Thursday AM
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
454 AM EST THU JAN 2 2014
GAZ001>004-011-012-019-022000-
DADE-WALKER-CATOOSA-WHITFIELD-CHATTOOGA-GORDON-FLOYD-
454 AM EST THU JAN 2 2014
...BLACK ICE AND A RAIN/SNOW MIXTURE POSSIBLE TONIGHT...
A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST STATES TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. PRECIPITATION ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO BE ALL RAIN...BUT AS COLDER AIR MOVES INTO THE REGION SOME PRECIPITATION IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE FRONT MAY CHANGE OVER TO A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF NORTH GEORGIA. ALTHOUGH ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE VERY LIMITED WITH ONLY LOCATIONS ABOVE 1500 FEET SEEING ANY ACCUMULATING SNOWS... CAUTIONS IS ADVISED FOR ALL AREA DUE TO THE CHANCES FOR BLACK ICE DEVELOPMENT. EVEN AREAS RECEIVING NO FROZEN PRECIPITATION COULD STILL SEE ISOLATED HAZARDOUS ROAD CONDITIONS AS TEMPERATURES FALL INTO THE UPPER 20S WHILE SOME ROADWAYS REMAIN WET.
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Better run and find your long johns, big blankets, and some extra wood for the fire, we're in for a winter ride!
The pieces are beginning to fall into place for a polar outbreak of some very cold air that will be plunging into the eastern part of the country, and into the deep south. We've been talking about this for a couple of weeks now and it appears it's finally coming to fruition. And to top it all off, there will be several chances for snow flakes here in the metro area during the period.
Thursday -
This first shot of cold air arrives Thursday and will bring very gusty winds as it passes, This from this morning's AFD fro Atlanta NWS:
SHORT TERM SYSTEM WILL BE EXITING THE FORECAST AREA THURSDAY EVENING THOUGH STILL CANNOT RULE OUT A BRIEF TRANSITION OVER TO LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES IN PARTS OF NORTH GA. WHILE PROGGED THERMAL PROFILES ARE COLD ENOUGH... WRAP-AROUND MOISTURE IS QUITE LIMITED. LITTLE TO NO ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED. THE MAIN IMPACT WILL BE BLUSTERY CONDITIONS BEHIND THE POTENT COLD FRONT. STRONG GRADIENT WINDS WILL KICK IN OVERNIGHT AND INTO FRIDAY MORNING BETWEEN THE DEEPENING LOW THAT SKIRTS OFF TO THE NORTHEAST AND A 1035-MB SFC HIGH QUICKLY SLIDING INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. MAGNITUDES MAY REACH WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA... SO STAY TUNED TO FUTURE UPDATES IF AN ISSUANCE IS WARRANTED. RESULTANT WIND CHILL VALUES ARE LOOKING TO DROP TO THE LOW TEENS AND SINGLE DIGITS IN THE NORTH AND POSSIBLY BELOW ZERO FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
According to Robert Gamble at WXSouth.com, "Very strong cold advection and wrap around moisture occurs, bringing a good bit of upslope snow to the NW facing slopes and this could bring flurries down to northern GA on Friday, so it’s a pretty strong upslope event driven by strong northwest winds"
Normally, we don't do well in NW upslope events, as we're on the downslope side of the mountains, so this will be interesting
Friday -
Very cold temperatures will settle in on Friday with temperatures not rising out of the 30's. Don't get too comfortable with these temperatures though, as this isn't the real cold air, that comes a few days later.
Sunday -
Now, go put on those long johns that I had you go and find, because this is when the real cold air arrives.
GUIDANCE IS NOW IN BETTER AGREEMENT WITH NEXT MAIN INFLUENCING
SYSTEM FOR SUNDAY INTO NEXT WEEK. BOTH GFS AND ECMWF SOLUTIONS DEVELOP A BROAD HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER TROUGH ACROSS THE EASTERN CONUS. ECMWF IS A BIT DEEPER THAN THE GFS AND HAVE DECIDED TO STICK CLOSE TO GFS AND HPC GUIDANCE. BEST PRECIP CHANCES LOOK TO BE SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT WITH COUPLING OF MOISTURE AND VORTICITY ADVECTION AS THE TROUGH DIGS AND PUSHES EASTWARD. BASED ON BUFR SOUNDINGS AND PROGGED 850-MB TEMPS...P-TYPE INITIALLY LOOKS TO BE MOSTLY RAIN THOUGH PORTIONS OF THE NORTH COULD SEE TRANSITION TO LIGHT SNOW SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY AS COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH AND STRONG UPPER TROUGH SETS IN. THE COLDEST TEMPS OF THE YEAR ARE POSSIBLE BEHIND THIS FRONT AND ANY SHORTWAVE LOBES OF ENERGY ROTATING ALONG THE MAIN LONGWAVE TROUGH COULD SERVE TO ENHANCE LIGHT WINTRY PRECIP POTENTIAL. DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT SPECIFICS WITH UNCERTAINTY THIS FAR OUT IN THE FORECAST... BUT STRESSING POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT COLD SNAP LATE IN THE PERIOD.
And finally, from the NWS Weather Prediction Center (WPC) at 1:38AM this morning:
...SENSIBLE WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS...
SYSTEM AFFECTING THE EASTERN HALF OF THE CONUS FROM THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK SHOULD GENERATE A BAND OF SNOW TO THE N/W OF THE SFC LOW TRACK AND RAIN IN THE WARM SECTOR. PLACEMENT AND INTENSITY OF PCPN WILL DEPEND ON EXACT TRACK AND TIMING/DEPTH. THERE IS HIGHER CONFIDENCE IN THE VERY COLD AIR TRAILING THIS SYSTEM... WITH MANY LOCATIONS OVER THE ERN HALF OF THE CONUS SEEING ONE OR MORE DAYS OF TEMPS 10-30 F BELOW NORMAL. WINDS BETWEEN DEPARTING LOW PRESSURE AND THE SFC HIGH SLIDING SEWD ACROSS THE PLAINS INTO THE EAST WILL ALSO LEAD TO EXTREMELY LOW WIND CHILL VALUES OVER SOME AREAS... AND PERIODS OF LAKE EFFECT SNOW.
It appears we may have 2-4 days where temperatures don't rise above freezing, so you may want to check your outside faucets as well as make preparations for your outdoor pets and animals.
More to come as we learn more details. Again, more frequent updates will be made on my North Georgia Weather Facebook page and it's easier to add images there. Please visit and "Like" for important updates as they happen!
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