Winter Storm in Georgia, January 28 to 30, 2005

A significant and fairly prolonged winter storm/ice storm affected nearly all of North and Central Georgia from the evening of Friday January 28th to late morning on Sunday January 30th. The winter storm was a result of a very strong and very cold Arctic surface high pressure system located across the Mid-Atlantic states and an upper-level disturbance moving across the region from the west. North of a line from La Grange, to Thomaston, to Sandersville, the precipitation fell mostly as a mixture of sleet and freezing rain, with typical accumulations of one-half inch glaze ice and one to two inches of sleet. Some areas in North Central and Northeast Georgia experienced significant glaze ice accumulations of three-fourths to one inch. Further south, mainly south of a La Grange, to Thomaston, to Sandersville line, most of the frozen precipitation fell as freezing rain, with 1/4 to 1/2 inch accumulations of glaze ice common as far south as McRae, Abbeville, and Americus. In the southern areas, however, the ice accumulations were generally confined to trees, power lines, and other exposed objects with little or no accumulation of ice on the ground. Extensive damage to trees and power lines were reported throughout the area, especially in North Central, Northeast, and Central Georgia. Damage estimates were in the millions. Numerous vehicle accidents were also reported on the slick ice and sleet covered roads, especially in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. The summary below provides ice and sleet accumulations by county for this event as well as damage information received for that county. The ice and sleet accumulations were largely provided by the county 911 centers or respective Emergency Management Directors. The damage information was provided by the local county/city newspaper.Baldwin: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1/2 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. The county experienced near a total blackout with nearly 100 percent of the county left without power.Banks: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Barrow: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Bartow: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. As many as 13,000 residents in the county left without power.Bibb: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, Trace of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 10,000 residents of the county were left without power for an extended period during the event.Bleckley: None of significance reported.Butts: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Carroll: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. One road in the Clem community alone had 50 tree down on it.Catoosa: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Chattahoochee: None of significance reported.Chattooga: < 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Cherokee: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Thousands of residents were left without power. One person was killed and five were injured in a vehicle accident on Interstate 575 caused by ice on the roadway. Interstate 575 was closed. Many other vehicle accidents were also reported in the county. Clarke: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 100 tons of debris from downed trees and limbs had to be removed from roads. Around 3000 residents left without power.Clayton: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Several thousand residents left without power.Cobb: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 7000 residents were left without power.Coweta: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - Several trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 1500 residents in the county were left without power during the event.Crawford: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - Widespread power outages were reported around the county from trees down on power lines.Crisp: 1/2 inch of glaze ice.Dade: 1/4 inch of glaze ice.Dawson: 1.0 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleetDeKalb: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - Hundreds of trees down on power lines and in roadways. Several thousand people were left without power for 1-2 days.Dodge: < 1/4 inch of glaze ice - Several trees and power lines were down throughout the county.Dooly: < 1/4 inch of glaze ice - A few power outages were reported around the county from trees down on power lines.Douglas: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Several tree limbs and a number of tree limbs down throughout the county. As many as 15,000 residents in the county were left without power.Emanuel: < 1/4 inch of glaze ice.Fannin: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Fayette: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - Numerous trees and several power lines down throughout the county. A carport and vehicle were damaged when the roof of the carport collapsed from the weight of the ice accumulation. Several roads blocked from downed trees. A number of residents in the county lost power.Floyd: 1/3 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Forsyth: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Fulton: 3/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet.Gilmer: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Glascock: 3/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Gordon: < 1.0 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Greene: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Many residents in the county lost power from trees down on power lines.Gwinnett: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 2.0 inches of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Approximately 65,000 residents in the county were left without power.Hall: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Several power outages reported from trees down on power lines throughout the county.Hancock: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Haralson: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Harris: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, Trace of sleet.Heard: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Henry: 1.0 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. A number of power outages were reported. Around 50 roads were blocked from downed trees.Houston: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout much of the county.Jackson: 1/5 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Jasper: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Power outages were widespread. A home in Bethel was damaged when a tree fell on the structure.Jefferson: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines were down throughout the county. More than 14,000 residents of the county, which includes most of the county, were left without power.Johnson: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - A number of trees down on power lines around the county.Jones: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Lamar: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 7000 residents were left without power.Laurens: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Lumpkin: 3/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Several trees and power lines were down in the county, causing some residents to lose power.Macon: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - Hundreds of residents lost power in the county because of trees down on power lines.Madison: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county.Marion: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Meriwether: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Monroe: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.5 inches of sleet - A number of trees and power lines were down throughout the county. Many residents were left without power.Montgomery: 1/4 inch of glaze ice.Morgan: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 1700 residents were left without power. A massive 100 foot tall tree fell down because of the weight of the ice.Murray: 1/5 inch of glaze ice, Trace of sleet.Muscogee: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 7000 residents were left without power.Newton: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Ice covered roads caused a number of vehicle accidents throughout the county. Around 15,000 residents in the county were left without power.Oconee: 1/5 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Oglethorpe: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - A number of trees were down on power lines, causing power outages throughout the county.Paulding: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Peach: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Pickens: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Pike: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 1000 residents were left without power.Polk: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Pulaski: < 1/4 inch of glaze ice - Around 1800 residents in the county were left without power because of ice laden trees down on power lines.Putnam: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county.Rockdale: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - Ice covered roads caused a number of vehicle accidents throughout the county.Schley: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - Several hundred residents in the county were left without power because of trees down on power lines.Spalding: 3/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county. Around 10,000 residents of the county were left without power.Stewart: 1/4 inch of glaze ice.Sumter: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Very few residents were left without power, however.Talbot: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - Several trees and power lines were down around the county.Taliaferro: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1/2 inch of glaze ice.Taylor: 1/2 inch of glaze ice.Telfair: Trace of glaze ice.Toombs: None of significance.Towns: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, 1.0 inch of sleet.Treutlen: Trace of glaze ice. No significant problems were reported.Troup: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - Many trees and power lines down throughout the county. Several roads were blocked from downed trees. Many vehicle were damaged from fallen trees, while a few homes sustained minor damage from downed trees. Some outbuildings were crushed from downed trees.Twiggs: 1/2 inch of glaze ice - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Union: Trace of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Upson: 1/2 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county. One vehicle in Thomaston was heavily damaged when a large tree fell on the car and crushed it.Walker: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, Trace of sleet.Walton: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet - Numerous trees and power lines down throughout the county. Up to 2500 residents in the county were left without power.Warren: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Washington: 1/4 inch of glaze, Trace of sleet - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.Webster: Trace of glaze ice.Wheeler: Trace of glaze ice.White: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, Trace of sleet, Trace of snow.Whitfield: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, Trace of sleet.Wilcox: None of significance.Wilkes: 1/4 inch of glaze ice, < 1.0 inch of sleet.Wilkinson: 1/4 inch of glaze ice - A number of trees and power lines down throughout the county.