Ice Storm in Georgia, January 22 to 23, 2000

Wintry precipitation plagued the northern third of Georgia beginning Saturday and continued into Sunday. A shallow cold airmass with single-digit dewpoint temperatures was in place over north Georgia, with temperatures in the upper 20s to lower 30s over much of the area. An upper level disturbance moved rapidly over the area in a fast zonal flow, bringing an increase in mid-tropospheric moisture. At the same time, lower level moisture spread into the area from the Gulf of Mexico. Precipitation began falling into the colder layer of air near the surface by mid-morning on the 22nd. The mixture of light rain, snow and sleet had spread from northwest to northeast Georgia by early afternoon. By noon, reports began coming in of icy spots on bridges and some roadways. By late afternoon, the precipitation north of a line from Rome to Gainesville to Commerce became a mixture of freezing rain, sleet and snow. Up to 3 inches of snow fell in the mountains of northeast Georgia by the end of the event. Rain mixed with sleet fell over much of the rest of north Georgia into the late afternoon. As the event continued into Saturday night, freezing rain and sleet began falling further south in the Atlanta to Athens areas. Ice accumulated to around a half inch on tree limbs and power lines. There was ice and snow accumulation on roads as well, mainly north of an Atlanta to Athens line. Bridges and overpassses became treacherous for travelers and numerous accidents were reported. A ten year old Rockdale county girl was injured when an large ice-laden limb fell and hit her in the head, causing spinal damage. The major problem was power outages. Power lines snapped, and trees and limbs fell onto power lines breaking them. Trees and debris blocked roads in many areas. As many as 500,000 customers lost power across north Georgia. About 3,000 Georgia power workers worked around the clock to restore power, but 50,000 to 75,000 customers were still without electricity Tuesday morning. A few areas did not regain electric power until Wednesday. As many as 40,000 telephone customers also lost service due to lines downed by limbs and trees. Around 3,000 phones customers in the Atlanta metro area alone were without service Sunday. Trees heavy with ice fell on homes and cars causing other damage. Hartsfield International Airport was open Sunday, but many flights were cancelled or had long delays in the morning. Precipitation slowly diminished from west to east across north Georgia during the morning and early afternoon on Sunday January 23rd. Luckily the storm occurred on the weekend, but some school systems still were closed Monday. The governor of Georgia declared a state of emergency for 39 counties. A Federal Disaster Declaration covered 34 Georgia counties. Georgia Emergency Management estimated 48 million dollars in damage. The devastation from the storm was compared to Hurricane Opal in 1995 and the blizzard of 1993.