Winter Weather, Rabun
- When
- February 2, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Rabun forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.882, -83.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather in Georgia, February 2, 2004
Light freezing rain developed during the morning hours across the Georgia mountains, producing a thin layer of glaze that was responsible for several traffic accidents.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 GSP wrote it up.
Light freezing rain developed during the morning hours across the Georgia mountains, producing a thin layer of glaze that was responsible for several traffic accidents.
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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 4:49 AM EST, 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 4:49 AM EST, 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 449 AM EST MON FEB 2 2004 .DISCUSSION... SATELLITE SHOWING MOISTURE BAND CURRENTLY OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CWA. RADAR SHOWING NUMEROUS SMALL SHOWERS MIGRATING NORTH FROM GA...PRESENTLY REACHING AS FAR NORTH AS THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY. LATEST PRESSURE ANALYSIS SHOWS HIGH PRESSURE WEDGING DOWN THE EASTERN APPALACHIANS FROM A 1035 MB HIGH OVER NY. OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE U20S NORTH TO MID 30S FAR SW WITH DWPTS IN THE TEENS...WILL EXPECT ALL AREAS TO BECOME AT OR BELOW FREEZING BY DAYBREAK. VERY COMPLEX WEATHER/FORECAST UNFOLDING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT. LATEST RUNS OF THE ETA AND GFS ARE TRENDING COLDER WHEN INVESTIGATING THE SFC WET BULBS THROUGH THE EVENT. WILL GENERALLY GO WITH THE SAME PLAN AS LAST NIGHT...USE ETA LLVL THERMO FIELDS WITH GFS TIMING AND BLENDED QPF. MESOETA VERIFYING WELL WITH RADAR TRENDS WITH LIGHT SHOWERS OVER N GA AND E TN. THROUGH THE MORNING WILL FORECAST THE BULK OF THE SHOWERS OVER THE UPSLOPE AREAS S OF FRENCH BROAD...CHC POPS SPREADING OVER NE GA AND THE UPSTATE. WITH TEMPS BELOW FREEZING AND REINFORCED DAMMING WX WILL BE WORDED AS FZRA AND PL. THIS AFTERNOON...LLVL MODEL FIELDS SHOW WARMING TAKING PLACE FROM THE EDGES OF THE CAD...ESPECIALLY FROM THE EAST AS TMB APPROACHES. AGREE WITH HPC ADVICE THAT WARMING MAY BE TOO FAST GIVEN THE PLACEMENT OF COASTAL LOW...WILL SLOW WARMING ON ETA. AS LARGE SCALE FORCING INCREASES THIS AFTERNOON AND PRECIP SPREADS ACROSS THE FA...P TYPE WILL RUN THE SCOPE FROM FROZEN TO LIQUID. AFTER A COMPLICATED TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY...THE HEART OF WINTRY WX WILL REMAIN IN THE FTHILLS OF THE CAROLINAS THROUGH THE EVENT. MESOETA LOOKS VERY INTERESTING FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT AS FORECAST SOUNDINGS AND SFC TEMP FIELDS SHOW VERY COLD AIR IN PLACE. IN FACT...BY THIS EVENING SNOW SOUNDINGS APPEAR OVER A LARGE PORTION OF THE NRN MTNS AND NC FTHILLS. BELIEVE THAT THE MODEL IS OVERFORECASTING LIFT AND COOLING TOO MUCH...NEVERTHELESS...A SIGNIFICANT PERIOD OF SN AND PL IN THE UPSLOPE LOOKS LIKELY GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF UPSLOPE WIND ON ETA AND GFS. WE HAVE UPGRADED WATCH AREA TO A WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY THRU TONIGHT AND AREAS OUTSIDE WARNING WILL BE GIVEN AN ADVISORY. TUESDAY MORNING...COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA BRINGING SOME UPSLOPE SHSN TO THE NRN MTNS. COLD FRONT...CAA...AND DOWNSLOPE WILL ERODE THE CAD BY MID DAY AND WILL BRING TEMPS UP TO A MOS BLEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD AND REMAIN UNTIL NEXT...WET...SYSTEM ARRIVES ON THURSDAY...LITTLE CHANGE MADE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GSP 36 34 53 31 / 70 99 20 00 AND 36 35 55 30 / 70 99 20 00 CLT 37 35 54 31 / 60 99 20 00 HKY 34 32 46 27 / 60 99 30 00 AVL 32 30 45 25 / 90 99 30 00 && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NE GA. NC...WINTER STORM ADVISORY FOR NRN MTNS...FRENCH BROAD VALLEY AND NC FTHILLS. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ACROSS THE REST OF NC FA. SC...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE UPSTATE. && NED
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 1, 6:16 AM EST, 22 hours 44 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 616 AM EST SUN FEB 1 2004 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-011312- ABBEVILLE SC-ALEXANDER NC-ANDERSON SC-AVERY NC-BUNCOMBE NC-BURKE NC- CABARRUS NC-CALDWELL NC-CATAWBA NC-CHEROKEE SC-CHESTER SC- CLEVELAND NC-DAVIE NC-ELBERT GA-FRANKLIN GA-GASTON NC-GRAHAM NC- GREATER GREENVILLE SC-GREATER OCONEE SC-GREATER PICKENS SC- GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-GREENWOOD SC-HABERSHAM GA-HART GA-HAYWOOD NC- HENDERSON NC-IREDELL NC-LAURENS SC-LINCOLN NC-MACON NC-MADISON NC- MCDOWELL NC-MECKLENBURG NC-MITCHELL NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-POLK NC-RABUN GA-ROWAN NC- RUTHERFORD NC-SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SPARTANBURG SC-STEPHENS GA- SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC-UNION SC-UNION NC-YANCEY NC-YORK SC- 616 AM EST SUN FEB 1 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... LIGHT FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE NORTHERN SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY BY DAYBREAK MONDAY. ANY ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO A TRACE BEFORE SUNRISE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... LIGHT RAIN AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE WESTERN CAROLINAS BY NOON MONDAY. IN THE AFTERNOON...TEMPERATURES WILL BEGIN TO WARM AND PRECIPITATION WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY. FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET IS EXPECTED TO BECOME CONCENTRATED OVER THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MOUNTAINS EAST ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS MONDAY AFTERNOON. SIGNIFICANT WINTRY PRECIPITATION COULD RESULT FROM ASHEVILLE EAST TO SHELBY NORTH TO NEWLAND AND HICKORY...WITH UP TO A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF ICE BY TUESDAY MORNING. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER STORM WATCH /CAEWSWGSP/ AND A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT /CAESPSGSP/ FOR FURTHER DETAILS. ANOTHER ROUND OF MAINLY MOUNTAIN WINTRY WEATHER IS ALSO POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. NED
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Winter Weather, Habersham
- When
- February 2, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Habersham forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.631, -83.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Winter Weather
- Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Cold in Illinois, February 2, 2004
- Flash Flooding and Heavy Snow in California, February 2 to 3, 2004
- Strong Wind in California, February 2, 2004
- Heavy Snow in Iowa, February 2, 2004
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 2, 2004
- Dense Fog in Florida, February 2, 2004
- Winter Weather in South Carolina, February 2, 2004
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, February 2, 2004
- Ice Storm and Heavy Snow in Virginia, February 2 to 3, 2004
- Winter Storm and Strong Wind in California, February 2 to 3, 2004
- Sleet in North Carolina, February 2 to 3, 2004
- High Wind in Oregon, February 2, 2004
More
Every storm in Georgia in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2004
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: 5388377, 5388378.