Heavy Snow in Georgia, January 6, 2002

Name: Heavy Snow in Georgia, January 6, 2002
Start: 2002-01-06T05:00
End: 2002-01-06T08:00
Location: Georgia

January 6, 2002 · NWS FFC · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

Mountainous areas of far north and northeast Georgia received a quick 2 to 4 inches of snow as a fast moving upper short wave crossed the region during the early morning hours. While modified polar air was in place, limited low-level moisture amounts and the quick speed of movement of the upper system limited snowfall amounts. Measurable snowfall was generally confined to areas above 2500 feet. Travel problems were minimal as surface air temperatures hovered near or just above freezing during most of the event.

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 6, 3:35 AM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 3:35 AM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
335 AM EST SUN JAN 6 2002

OVERVIEW...MODELS SIMILAR WITH THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN. RATHER QUICK
500 MB SHORT WAVE PASSES THROUGH GEORGIA FIRST HALF OF TODAY INTO
SOUTH CAROLINA BY AFTERNOON. DEEPER TROF SWINGS INTO THE SOUTHEAST
BY MONDAY MORNING AND SHIFTS TO ATLANTIC COAST BY MONDAY NIGHT.
SURFACE LOW NEAR THE TIP OF FLORIDA PANHANDLE IS PROGGED TO BECOME
THE SECONDARY LOW AS THE VORTICITY MAX AND JET STRUCTURE SUPPORT
MAIN LOW DEVELOPING MORE TO THE NORTH IN SOUTHEAST ALABAMA AND IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA BY 18Z. AVN IS MUCH FASTER
WITH THIS FEATURE...NGM THE SLOWEST...AND ETA SEEMS A GOOD
COMPROMISE.

NEAR TERM...CURRENT RADAR SHOWS A BREAK IN THE PRECIP IN SOUTH
CENTRAL ALABAMA AND WATER VAPOR SATELLITE SHOWS DRY AIR PUNCHING UP
INTO THE AT AREA. EVEN NOTICED A BIT OF LIGHTNING AS FAR NORTH AS
WEST CENTRAL ALABAMA. MORE PRECIP COMING IN ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE
SYSTEM THOUGH.  MAY WANT TO TRIM BACK POPS IN THE COLUMBUS AREA JUST
A TAD FOR TODAY. LOW LEVEL THICKNESS PROGS AND MAGIC CHART
SUPPORT A MIXTURE OF PRECIP IN THE FAR NORTH. HAD EARLIER REPORTS IN
ALABAMA AND EVEN IN PEACHTREE CITY OF LIGHT SLEET...BUT THE
THICKNESSES DONT SUPPORT ANY SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS THIS FAR SOUTH.
WILL CONTINUE THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ACROSS THE FAR NORTH...BUT
WILL END IT EARLIER IN THE AFTERNOON. AROUND AN INCH OF SNOW IS
STILL POSSIBLE BEFORE THE BACK EDGE OF THE PRECIP EXITS THE STATE.
AS THE MAIN TROF SWINGS INTO THE STATE ON MONDAY MOISTURE WILL BE
STARTING TO DRY UP. WE MAY STILL HAVE ENOUGH TO WRING OUT SOME
FLURRIES OR LIGHT SNOW ACROSS MAINLY THE NORTH THOUGH. HIGH TEMPS OF
35 TO 40 ACROSS THE NORTH PART OF CWA DOWN TO A LITTLE PAST AN
ATL-AHN LINE WILL SUPPORT THIS...SO WILL CONTINUE SMALL POPS MONDAY
ACROSS THE  CWA. FLURRIES EVEN POSSIBLE IN CENTRAL GEORGIA IF ENOUGH
MOISTURE IS PRESENT.

EXTENDED...NEXT SYSTEM AFFECTING GEORGIA WILL BE THE TAIL END OF A
COLD FRONT PASSING THROUGH IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT/THURSDAY TIME FRAME.
PRECIP ALREADY IN EXTENDED SO WILL LEAVE AS IS FOR NOW.

FCSTID = 22
ATL   42  30  39  23 /  80  20  20   0
AHN   41  28  40  22 /  90  20  20   0
GVL   40  29  39  22 /  90  20  20   0
RMG   40  28  40  21 /  90  20  30   0
CSG   49  35  44  26 /  60  20  30   0
MCN   50  33  43  25 /  70  10  20   0

DH

.ATL...
GA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR FAR NORTH TODAY.

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

4 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Dade

When: January 6, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Dade forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.855, -85.504 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Fannin

When: January 6, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Fannin forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.864, -84.320 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Towns

When: January 6, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Towns forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.917, -83.737 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Union

When: January 6, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.834, -83.991 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Georgia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5277036, 5277037, 5277038, 5277039.