Georgia, 2005

Winter Weather in Georgia, April 2, 2005

April 2, 2005 · NWS FFC · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

A late Spring and strong Canadian cold front combined with a upper-level disturbance to bring an unusually late, albeit brief, period of snow and sleet showers to the area during the late morning hours. Some of the showers were strong enough to even produce some pea-sized hail or graupel on the north side of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 15 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
15

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.

A late Spring and strong Canadian cold front combined with a upper-level disturbance to bring an unusually late, albeit brief, period of snow and sleet showers to the area during the late morning hours. Some of the showers were strong enough to even produce some pea-sized hail or graupel on the north side of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The snow and sleet showers were generally confined to the north central and northeast part of the state from the north Atlanta metropolitan area northeast to Hiawassee. While little snow accumulation was reported with ground surface temperatures in the 40s, some minor accumulation of snow was reported in the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Northeast Georgia. At Brass Town Bald in western Towns county, over 4000 feet elevation, nearly an inch of snow accumulated on the ground. Several visitors to the park had difficulty getting out of the area on the snow covered roads. Ground surface temperatures were in the 40s, so there was no significant accumulation of snow outside of the higher elevations.

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 Apr 2, 5:30 AM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 5:30 AM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
530 AM EST SAT APR 2 2005

.SHORT TERM...
COLD FRONT MOVING QUICKLY ACROSS AREA THIS MORNING AS SURFACE LOW
PRESSURE DEEPENS AS IT MOVES UP THE EASTERN SEABOARD. EXCELLENT
PRESSURE GRADIENT EXPECTED TODAY SO WIND ADVISORY WILL BE CONTINUED.
HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS ACROSS THE GULF COAST SUNDAY WITH ANOTHER WINDY
DAY IN STORE BUT LESS SO THAN TODAY. SURFACE HIGH CONTINUES TO DRIFT
EAST TO FL THROUGH MONDAY. UPPER LOW AND SHORT WAVE MOVE ACROSS N
GA TODAY WITH SOME SHOWERS IN STORE. DRY WEATHER EXPECTED TONIGHT
THROUGH MONDAY. COOLER TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL WARM TO THE 70S FOR
MOST LOCATIONS MONDAY.

.LONG TERM...
ANOTHER SHARP TROUGH DEVELOPS MID WEEK OVER THE MID U.S. THIS WILL
BRING A FRONT THROUGH THE AREA ABOUT THURSDAY.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...
STRONG WINDS AND DRIER CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO DRY FUELS TO CRITICAL
CONDITIONS FOR SUNDAY. WILL ISSUE A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR SUNDAY
FOR SUSTAINED WINDS CLOSE TO 20 MPH AND GUSTS TO 25 MPH OR GREATER.

&&

.HYDROLOGY...
ONLY SMALL AMOUNTS OF PCPN EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS N GA. THIS WILL NOT
BE ENOUGH TO AFFECT CURRENT FLOODING OF ANY RIVERS.

&&

.AVIATION...
LATEST ANALYSIS PLACES COLD FRONT NEAR A DUBLIN TO THOMPSON TO
ASHEVILLE LINE. CLOUDS ERODING FROM THE SOUTHWEST...WITH CIGS
LIFTING INTO THE 25 HUNDRED TO 35 HUNDRED RANGE. GUSTY NORTHWEST
WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN PROBLEM TODAY WITH SUSTAINED SPEEDS IN THE 15
TO 25 KT RANGE AND GUST UP TO 35KTS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY DURING THE
AFTERNOON. LOOK FOR WRAP-AROUND TO AFFECT MAINLY NORTHERN TAF SITES
TODAY WITH BKN CIGS IN THE 3 TO 4 THSD FT RANGE. ACROSS CENTRAL TAF
SITES EXPECT GENERALLY SCT CLOUDS AROUND 4 THSD FT TO BE THE RULE.
COULD SEE ISOLATED LIGHT SHOWERS IN WRAP-AROUND...BUT NOT ENOUGH TO
MENTION IN TAFS.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
ATLANTA         54  39  65  44 /  10   0   0   0
ATHENS          56  38  67  40 /  10   0   0   0
GAINESVILLE     55  39  65  41 /  30   5   0   0
ROME            60  38  67  40 /  30   0   0   0
COLUMBUS        62  42  69  43 /   0   0   0   0
MACON           64  39  70  40 /   0   0   0   0

&&

.FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...WIND ADVISORY TODAY N AND CENTRAL GA UNTIL 700 PM.
     FIRE WEATHER WATCH SUNDAY.
&&

BDL/49
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 2, 5:17 AM EST, 4 hours 43 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Cherokee

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Cherokee forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.244, -84.476 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Clayton

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Clayton forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
33.542, -84.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Cobb

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Cobb forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
33.942, -84.577 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Dawson

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Dawson forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.444, -84.171 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, De Kalb

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
De Kalb forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
33.772, -84.226 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Fannin

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Fannin forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.864, -84.320 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Forsyth

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Forsyth forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.226, -84.125 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Gilmer

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Gilmer forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.691, -84.456 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Gwinnett

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Gwinnett forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
33.962, -84.024 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Hall

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Hall forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.317, -83.820 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Lumpkin

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Lumpkin forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.572, -84.003 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, North Fulton

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
North Fulton forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
33.790, -84.467 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Paulding

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Paulding forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
33.921, -84.867 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Pickens

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Pickens forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.464, -84.466 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Towns

When
April 2, 10:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Towns forecast zone
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.917, -83.737 (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

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, April 2005

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5447742, 5447743, 5447744, 5447745, 5447746, 5447747, 5447748, 5447749, 5447750, 5447803, 5447804, 5447805, 5447806, 5447807, 5447808.