A winter storm will bring heavy snow to northeast Georgia beginning Friday evening, with accumulations up to 7 inches possible in some areas, according to the National Weather Service.
What’s Happening: The National Weather Service issued Winter Storm Watches for northeast Georgia, western North Carolina, and Upstate South Carolina from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning. Areas east of I-26 could see 4 to 7 inches of snow, while the rest of the watch area could receive 2 to 4 inches.
What’s Important: Snow is expected to rapidly stick to roads and other surfaces due to temperatures in the 20s. Travel conditions could deteriorate rapidly as early as Friday evening. Wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph are forecast, which could bring down tree limbs and power lines and create areas of blowing snow with very poor visibility on Saturday.
How This Affects Real People: The heavy snow will make many roads impassable and may produce scattered power outages due to the weight of snow on tree limbs and power lines. The hazardous conditions could impact the Friday evening commute.
The Path Forward: This storm follows a major winter event that hit Georgia last weekend. Wind chills will drop to dangerous levels, ranging from 5 degrees below zero to the lower teens above zero on Saturday, then plunging to 10 degrees below zero to the single digits above zero Saturday night into Sunday morning in some areas. The National Weather Service advises monitoring the latest forecasts for updates.
The Forecast by Region: Northeast Georgia counties including Rabun, Habersham, Stephens, Franklin, Hart, and Elbert face the highest snow totals of 4 to 7 inches east of Interstate 26 and 2 to 4 inches elsewhere. North central and east central Georgia counties including Union, Towns, Lumpkin, White, Hall, Banks, Jackson, Madison, and Clarke could see up to 2 inches. East central Georgia and central South Carolina areas including Lincoln, McDuffie, Columbia, Richmond, and Burke counties could receive 2 to 5 inches.
The Timing: The winter weather is expected to begin Friday evening and continue through Sunday morning in most areas, extending through Sunday afternoon in some east central Georgia and central South Carolina locations.
ON SNOWPOCALYPSE:
“Like most metro Atlanta residents at the time, I dismissed the warnings and scoffed at the meteorologists who cried “snow” at the drop of a thermometer. After all, in Atlanta, snow forecasts are as reliable as Hollywood marriages. The reflexive grocery stampedes for bread, milk, and eggs seemed like a seasonal ritual more for omelet enthusiasts than survivalists.”
