S. S.
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.
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.
The episode as NWS FFC wrote it up.
A very deep eastern U.S. trough penetrating well south, even toward Cuba, allowed a bitter cold Arctic air mass to surge into the southeast U.S. This brought some of the coldest weather to north and central Georgia that had been observed in years. Atlanta recorded its coldest high temperature and its first high temperature below 30 degrees since February 1996. On December 13th, the high temperature in Atlanta only reached 29 degrees Fahrenheit. Low temperatures fell into the teens across much of north Georgia for several mornings, with single digit readings in the mountains. Strong northwest winds supporting significant low-level cold advection contributed to significant orographic lifting across the north Georgia mountains. Moisture and upper dynamics were limited, but sufficient when combined with the strong cold advection to bring snow showers and average snowfall of about one inch across many of the north Georgia mountain counties, generally north of Summerville, to Jasper, to Cleveland line, with a dusting of snow toward the north side of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Some of the northwest facing slopes of the mountains received two to four inches of snow, with one report of five inches in parts of northeast Gilmer county. With surface temperatures remaining well below freezing for an extended period of time, the snow easily accumulated on the ground.
The following is a summary of the maximum snowfall totals for north Georgia counties during this event, which began around noon on December 12th and ended around noon on December 13th.
Bartow county - a dusting;|Catoosa county - 1/2 inch;|Chattooga county - 1/2 inch or less;|Cobb county - a dusting;|Dade county - 1.0 inch;|Dawson county - 1/2 inch in lower to 2.0 inches in higher elevations;|Fannin county - 1.0 inch in lower to 2.0 inches in higher elevations;|Floyd county - a dusting;|Forsyth county - a dusting;|Gilmer county - 2.0 inches in lower to 5.0 inches at elevations above 2000 feet in the northeast part of the county;|Gordon county - a dusting;|Hall county - a dusting;|Lumpkin county - a dusting;|Murray county - a dusting to less than 1/2 inch;|Pickens county - generally 1.0 inch lower to 1.5 inches higher elevations;|Towns county - 2.0 inches, except isolated 3.0 inch totals at the higher elevations;|Union county - generally 1.0 inch of snow throughout through the county|Walker county - 1.0 inch of snow, with up to 2.0 inches in the higher elevations;|White county - 1/2 inch lower elevations to 1.0 inch in the higher elevations;|Whitfield county - dusting to less than 1/2 inch.
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 Dec 12, 8:40 AM EST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 840 AM EST SUN DEC 12 2010 .UPDATE... COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS AREA. HIGH TEMPERATURES FOR MOST LOCATIONS HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING THROUGH THE DAY AND INCREASING POTENTIAL FOR PRECIP TO BE LIGHT SNOW OR SNOW SHOWERS. WINDS INCREASING FOR ALL AREAS IF NOT ALREADY SO. POTENTIAL FOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS FOR FAR N GA CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT. BDL && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 658 AM EST SUN DEC 12 2010/ PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 401 AM EST SUN DEC 12 2010/ SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... CURRENT RADAR LOOP SHOWS A THIN LINE OF STRONG SHOWERS MOVING RAPIDLY EAST ACROSS THE STATE. SHOWERS BEGAN MOVING INTO NW GA BETWEEN 01Z-03Z SUN AND THE BACK EDGE OF THESE SHOWER IS ALREADY MOVING INTO NW GA. THE ACTUAL FRONT HAS JUST MOVED INTO NW GA WITH THE TRIPLE POINT JUST NEAR CARROLLTON. THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE QUICKLY THROUGH THE STATE AND BE EAST OF THE AREA BY 16Z-18Z TODAY. WE WILL SEE A BRIEF DRY SLOT OVER THE AREA BETWEEN 12Z-18Z AS THE CAA IS SETTING UP AND JUST BEFORE THE BETTER BACKSIDE MOISTURE MOVES IN. WITH THE CAA SETTING UP YOU CAN EXPECT TO SEE A NON-DIURNAL TEMP CURVE TODAY WITH LIGHT SNOW THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WILL SEE ACCUMULATIONS OF AN INCH OR LESS IN THE N GA MOUNTAINS BUT ONLY EXPECTING A DUSTING FOR ALL OTHER AREAS NORTH OF A LAGRANGE TO ATHENS LINE. WINDS WILL ALSO BE VERY STRONG WITH NW WINDS EXPECTED IN THE 15-25 MPH RANGE GUSTING 30-35 MPH BEGINNING LATER THIS MORNING AND CONTINUING THROUGH THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. WILL CONTINUE WITH CURRENT TIMING OF THE WIND ADVISORY. WITH THE CAA SETTING UP LOOKING FOR LOW TEMPS TONIGHT IN THE TEENS AND 20S AND IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS MON NIGHT. DAYTIME HIGHS TODAY WILL BE IN THE 30S AND 40S WITH HIGHS MON IN THE 20S AND 30S. TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO MODERATE SOME TUE WITH HIGHS EXPECTED IN THE 30S AND 40S. ONCE THE TEMPS ACROSS N GA DROP BELOW FREEZING TODAY...MOST OF N GA WILL NOT GET ABOVE THE 32 DEGREE MARK UNTIL WEDNESDAY. LONG TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... BY TUE AFTERNOON A LARGE ELONGATED RIDGE BUILDS IN ACROSS THE REGION AND BECOMES CENTERED OVER THE TN/OH RIVER VALLEYS BY 12Z WED. THIS RIDGE WILL HELP TO MODERATE THE TEMPS AND GET THINGS BACK TO NEAR SEASONAL NORMS. BY WED EVENING THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE BOTH SHOWING A WAVE MOVING SE THROUGH THE MID MS VALLEY WHICH TRACKS ACROSS N GA THU. FOR NOW IT LOOKS LIKE A RAIN EVENT AS TEMPS SHOULD STAY ABOVE FREEZING THROUGH SAT. CONFIDENCE WITH THIS NEXT SYSTEM IS STILL VERY LOW AS THE PREVIOUS MODEL RUNS WERE SHOWING TWO VERY DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS. WILL NEED TO MONITOR THIS MORE AS IT GETS CLOSER TO THE EVENT. FOR NOW...WILL KEEP SLIGHT/CHANCE POPS IN ACROSS THE AREA WED NIGHT THROUGH FRI. AVIATION... 12Z UPDATE... EXPECT MVFR CIGS TO DOMINATE THROUGH MUCH OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. SNOW FLURRIES POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...BUT NO RESTRICTIONS TO VSBYS EXPECTED. WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS 12 TO 18 KTS WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KTS POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. //ATL CONFIDENCE...12Z UPDATE... MEDIUM TO HIGH ON ALL ELEMENTS. 49 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 45 19 33 11 / 40 20 0 0 ATLANTA 45 18 30 13 / 20 20 0 0 BLAIRSVILLE 35 18 24 8 / 40 80 10 0 CARTERSVILLE 42 20 29 13 / 30 20 0 0 COLUMBUS 51 22 39 17 / 20 5 0 0 GAINESVILLE 39 19 31 13 / 30 30 5 0 MACON 53 22 38 15 / 30 5 0 0 ROME 43 19 29 12 / 40 40 5 0 PEACHTREE CITY 47 20 33 12 / 20 10 0 0 VIDALIA 50 24 40 20 / 100 0 0 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 5 PM EST MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BALDWIN...BANKS...BARROW...BARTOW...BIBB...BLECKLEY...BUTTS... CARROLL...CATOOSA...CHATTAHOOCHEE...CHATTOOGA...CHEROKEE... CLARKE...CLAYTON...COBB...COWETA...CRAWFORD...CRISP...DADE... DAWSON...DEKALB...DODGE...DOOLY...DOUGLAS...EMANUEL...FANNIN... FAYETTE...FLOYD...FORSYTH...GILMER...GLASCOCK...GORDON... GREENE...GWINNETT...HALL...HANCOCK...HARALSON...HARRIS...HEARD... HENRY...HOUSTON...JACKSON...JASPER...JEFFERSON...JOHNSON... JONES...LAMAR...LAURENS...LUMPKIN...MACON...MADISON...MARION... MERIWETHER...MONROE...MONTGOMERY...MORGAN...MURRAY...MUSCOGEE... NEWTON...NORTH FULTON...OCONEE...OGLETHORPE...PAULDING...PEACH... PICKENS...PIKE...POLK...PULASKI...PUTNAM...ROCKDALE...SCHLEY... SOUTH FULTON...SPALDING...STEWART...SUMTER...TALBOT... TALIAFERRO...TAYLOR...TELFAIR...TOOMBS...TOWNS...TREUTLEN... TROUP...TWIGGS...UNION...UPSON...WALKER...WALTON...WARREN... WASHINGTON...WEBSTER...WHEELER...WHITE...WHITFIELD...WILCOX... WILKES...WILKINSON. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 AM EST MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: CATOOSA...CHATTOOGA...DADE... DAWSON...FANNIN...GILMER...GORDON...LUMPKIN...MURRAY...PICKENS... TOWNS...UNION...WALKER...WHITE...WHITFIELD. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 505 AM EST SUN DEC 12 2010 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-131000- BALDWIN-BANKS-BARROW-BARTOW-BIBB-BLECKLEY-BUTTS-CARROLL-CATOOSA- CHATTAHOOCHEE-CHATTOOGA-CHEROKEE-CLARKE-CLAYTON-COBB-COWETA- CRAWFORD-CRISP-DADE-DAWSON-DEKALB-DODGE-DOOLY-DOUGLAS-EMANUEL- FANNIN-FAYETTE-FLOYD-FORSYTH-GILMER-GLASCOCK-GORDON-GREENE- GWINNETT-HALL-HANCOCK-HARALSON-HARRIS-HEARD-HENRY-HOUSTON-JACKSON- JASPER-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-JONES-LAMAR-LAURENS-LUMPKIN-MACON- MADISON-MARION-MERIWETHER-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-MORGAN-MURRAY- MUSCOGEE-NEWTON-NORTH FULTON-OCONEE-OGLETHORPE-PAULDING-PEACH- PICKENS-PIKE-POLK-PULASKI-PUTNAM-ROCKDALE-SCHLEY-SOUTH FULTON- SPALDING-STEWART-SUMTER-TALBOT-TALIAFERRO-TAYLOR-TELFAIR-TOOMBS- TOWNS-TREUTLEN-TROUP-TWIGGS-UNION-UPSON-WALKER-WALTON-WARREN- WASHINGTON-WEBSTER-WHEELER-WHITE-WHITFIELD-WILCOX-WILKES- WILKINSON- 505 AM EST SUN DEC 12 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ACCUMULATING SNOW POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF EXTREME NORTH GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. STRONG GUSTY WINDS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA TODAY AND TONIGHT. .SYNOPSIS... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PUSH ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA TODAY. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND MUCH COLDER AIR WILL SPREAD INTO THE STATE BEHIND IT. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... ACCUMULATING SNOW COULD PRODUCE SLICK SPOTS ON ROADWAYS ...ESPECIALLY BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IS NORTH OF A LINE FROM ROME TO CLEVELAND. STRONG GUSTY WINDS COULD MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. WINDS MAY ALSO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO DOWN A FEW TREES AND POWER LINES ...CAUSING POWER OUTAGES. FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION SEE THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY AND WIND ADVISORY. .DISCUSSION... MUCH COLDER AIR AND GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA TODAY...BEHIND A COLD FRONT PUSHING ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES. SNOW SHOWERS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. HOWEVER... ONLY LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAINS...WHERE 1/2 TO 1 INCH AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT REPORTS OF FROZEN PRECIPITATION THROUGH THE WEB BY GOING TO WEATHER.GOV/ATLANTA.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
14 winter weather, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Walker County 911 Center reported snowfall of one inch in the lower elevations to two inches in the higher elevations.
The Dade County 911 Center reported average snowfall of one inch across the county.
The Chattooga County 911 Center reported snowfall of 1/2 inch or less across the county.
The Catoosa County 911 Center reported an average of 1/2 inch of snow across the county.
The Whitfield County 911 Center reported mostly a dusting of snow across the county.
The Gordon County 911 Center reported mostly a dusting of snow across the county.
The Murray County 911 Center reported mostly a dusting of snow across the county.
The Gilmer County Emergency Management Director reported generally 1.5 to 2.0 inches of snow across the county. However, the higher elevations (above 2000 feet) in the northeast part of the county had received up to five inches of snow.
The Pickens County 911 Center reported that snowfall of 1.0 to 1.5 inches was observed across much of the county. The higher amounts were in the higher elevations across the north part of the county.
The Dawson County 911 Center reported that snowfall ranged from 1/2 inch in the lower elevations to 2.0 inches in the higher elevations.
The Fannin County 911 Center reported that snowfall ranged from one inch in the lower elevations to two inches in the higher elevations.
The Union County 911 Center reported that snowfall averaged around one inch across most of the county.
The Lumpkin County 911 Center reported that only a dusting of snowfall was observed across the county.
The White County 911 Center reported that snowfall ranged from 1/2 inch in the lower elevations to 1.0 inch in the higher elevations.
The Towns County 911 Center reported that snowfall average about two inches across the county, with isolated near three inch totals in the higher elevations.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, December 2010
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: 272934, 272935, 272936, 272937, 272938, 272939, 272940, 272941, 272942, 272943, 272944, 272945, 272946, 272947, 272948.