Georgia, 2002

Winter Storm in Georgia, January 2, 2002

January 2, 2002 · NWS FFC · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

The same storm which brought heavy snow to much of north and central Georgia from the 2nd to the 3rd first began across the southeast portion of central Georgia. From early morning through mid-evening on the 2nd about a 12 hour period of wet snow, sleet, and light freezing rain affected these areas.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 12 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1.0 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
12

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS FFC wrote it up.

The same storm which brought heavy snow to much of north and central Georgia from the 2nd to the 3rd first began across the southeast portion of central Georgia. From early morning through mid-evening on the 2nd about a 12 hour period of wet snow, sleet, and light freezing rain affected these areas. Ice accumulations averaged less than one-quarter inch, but were significant enough, when combined with a wet snow in some areas, to cause large tree limbs, and even some trees (especially pines), to fall on power lines, roads, and even some homes. Several power outages resulted. The hardest hit counties with glaze ice accumulations from freezing rain, freezing drizzle, and snow were Washington, Johnson, Jefferson, Emanuel, and Laurens counties. All together, several hundred trees were damaged or destroyed and thousands of people in these counties lost power during the 2-day storm. Many people did not have any power for 3 days or more. Emergency electrical crews were called out from out-of-state to assist with the cleanup and restoration of power.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 2, 3:45 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 2, 3:45 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
345 AM EST WED JAN 2 2002

WILL UPDATE WINTER STORM WATCH TO WARNING FOR ALL BUT FAR NORTH
GEORGIA TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. WILL ISSUE A SNOW ADVISORY
FOR THE FAR NORTH THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING.

LOW TRACKING ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO THIS MORNING ALREADY
PUSHING MOISTURE NORTH INTO SOUTHERN GEORGIA. MOSTLY RAIN SOUTH OF
THE FORECAST AREA AT THIS TIME...BUT A FEW LIGHT FLURRIES HAVE BEEN
REPORTED FROM MONTGOMERY TO COLUMBUS AND NEAR MACON. EXPECT
PRECIPITATION TO BE MIXED R/S/IP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA
INTO THE AFTERNOON WHEN EVAPORATIVE COOLING WILL LOWER SURFACE
TEMPERATURES TO NEAR FREEZING. MAY BE A BRIEF PERIOD OF FREEZING
RAIN LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING BEFORE PRECIPITATION
CHANGES OVER TO MAINLY SNOW AND SLEET ACROSS THE SOUTH. AREAS NORTH
OF A COLUMBUS TO WARRENTON LINE SHOULD SEE MAINLY FROZEN
PRECIPITATION THROUGHOUT THIS EVENT. FOR THE FAR NORTH LIMITED
MOISTURE SHOULD KEEP SNOWFALL AMOUNTS BELOW THE WINTER STORM
LEVEL...BUT 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE.

SURFACE LOW MOVES OFF SHORE BY THURSDAY MORNING TAKING THE BULK OF
THE MOISTURE WITH IT. HOWEVER...STRONG VORTICITY MAXIMUM AND COLD
AIR ADVECTION SHOULD KEEP SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS LINGERING OVER THE
FORECAST AREA DURING THE DAY THURSDAY...ENDING FROM THE SOUTHWEST BY
AFTERNOON.

NICE REBOUND IN STORE FOR FRIDAY...AFTER A VERY COLD MORNING...AS
UPPER RIDGE QUICKLY BUILDS INTO THE SOUTHEAST BEHIND EXITING TROUGH
AND IN ADVANCE OF NEXT TROUGH EXPECTED INTO GEORGIA LATE THIS
WEEKEND. NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION MOVES IN SATURDAY NIGHT. THE
SURFACE LOW WITH THIS SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA
SIGNIFICANTLY FARTHER NORTH THAN THE CURRENT SYSTEM...SO
PRECIPITATION TYPE WITH THIS NEXT EVENT IS STILL A BIT IFFY AT THIS
TIME.

FCSTID = 20
ATL   33  28  32  21 / 100 100  40  10
AHN   34  28  32  20 / 100 100  50  10
GVL   34  27  33  19 / 100 100  50  10
RMG   34  27  33  18 /  50  80  40  10
CSG   38  30  38  25 / 100 100  30  10
MCN   38  30  37  22 / 100 100  40  10

.ATL...
GA...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR
ZONES GAZ021>025...GAZ027...GAZ031>039...GAZ041>060...
GAZ066>071...GAZ078>079.

WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR ZONES
GAZ061>062...GAZ072>076...GAZ080>086...GAZ089>098...GAZ102>113.

SNOW ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR ZONES
GAZ001>009...GAZ011>016...GAZ019>020...GAZ030.

MSS

OUR DETAILED COUNTY FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE AT FOUS52 KFFC.
OUR AREA FORECAST FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA CITIES IS
AVAILABLE AT FLUS42 KFFC.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Dodge

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Dodge forecast zone
Property damage
$1.0 million
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.172, -83.168 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Dooly

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Dooly forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.157, -83.799 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Emanuel

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Emanuel forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.590, -82.302 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Jefferson

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Jefferson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
33.055, -82.418 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Johnson

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Johnson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.702, -82.660 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Laurens

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Laurens forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.464, -82.922 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Montgomery

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Montgomery forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.173, -82.535 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Telfair

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Telfair forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
31.930, -82.939 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Toombs

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Toombs forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.122, -82.331 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Treutlen

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Treutlen forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.404, -82.567 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Washington

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Washington forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.970, -82.796 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Wilkinson

When
January 2, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 PM EST
Where
Wilkinson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
32.802, -83.171 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, January 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5277844, 5277845, 5277846, 5277847, 5277848, 5277849, 5277850, 5277851, 5277852, 5277853, 5277854, 5277855.