A deep full latitude trough was shifting from the central United States into the eastern United States during this period. S.
Every event with a place to put it; 70 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 deep full latitude trough was shifting from the central United States into the eastern United States during this period. Arctic air remained firmly entrenched across much of the central and eastern U.S., but was marginal across the southeast U.S. However, very cold temperatures aloft associated with a short wave embedded within the upper trough, helped to bring a band of moderate snow across much of north and the northern parts of central Georgia during the evening of the 9th and into the early morning hours of the 10th. Snowfall averaged from 1.0 to 2.0 inches across most north Georgia counties, with 0.5 to 1.0 inch across the northern portions of central Georgia. The depth of the cold air aloft kept all of the winter precipitation in the form of snow with this event. Surface and ground temperatures were in the upper 30s to lower 40s at the beginning of the event and failed to drop much below 32 at any time during the event. Snowfall accumluations on roads were confined to bridges and overpasses and compared to previous snow/ice events of the 2010 - 2011 winter season, this event had a very minimal and brief impact on travel conditions across north Georgia. The snow melted quickly after sunrise on the 10th as the upper trough moved east of the area, skies cleared, and temperatures warmed into the low and mid 40s by afternoon. Interestingly enough, after a fairly harsh winter to this point in the season, a major upper atmospheric pattern change subsequent to this event from a deep eastern U.S. trough to a highly progressive, zonal flow, resulted in the remainder of February being well above normal. For example, the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport saw its last freezing temperature for the winter season on February 12, 2011.
Below is a list of snowfall reports received from counties across north and central Georgia.
Baldwin county - a trace of snow;|Banks county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Barrow county - 2.0 inches of snow;|Bartow county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Bibb county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Butts county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Carroll county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Catoosa county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Chattooga county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Cherokee county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Clarke county - 2.0 inches of snow;|Clayton county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Cobb county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Coweta county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Crawford county - a trace of snow;|Dade county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Dawson county - 1.5 inches of snow;|DeKalb county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Douglas county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Fannin county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Fayette county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Floyd county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Forsyth county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Fulton county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Gilmer county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Gordon county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Greene county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Gwinnett county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Hall county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Hancock county - a trace of snow;|Haralson county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Harris county - a trace of snow;|Heard county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Henry county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Jackson county - 2.0 inches of snow;|Jasper county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Jones county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Lamar county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Lumpkin county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Madison county - 1.5 inches of snow;|Meriwether county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Monroe county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Morgan county - 1.5 inches of snow;|Murray county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Newton county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Oconee county - 1.5 inches of snow;|Oglethorpe county - 2.0 inches of snow;|Paulding county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Peach county - a trace of snow;|Pickens county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Pike county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Polk county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Putnam county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Rockdale county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Spalding county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Talbot county - a trace of snow;|Taliaferro county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Taylor county - a trace of snow;|Towns county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Troup county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Twiggs county - a trace of snow;|Union county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Upson county - 0.5 inch of snow;|Walker county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Walton county - 2.0 inches of snow;|Warren county - a trace of snow;|White county - 1.0 inch of snow;|Whitfield county - 1.5 inches of snow;|Wilkes county - 0.5 inch of snow.
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 Feb 9, 2:51 PM EST, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 251 PM EST WED FEB 9 2011 ...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE AREA TONIGHT... .SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... LATEST MSAS ANALYSIS SHOWS HIGH PRESSURE REMAINING ANCHORED IN OVER THE MID ATLANTIC WITH RIDGING THROUGH THE PIEDMONT OF THE CAROLINAS AND INTO EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA. MORE SIGNIFICANT ARCTIC HIGH CONTINUES TO BUILD SOUTH OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WITH MAIN INFLUENCES REMAINING NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA FOR NOW. WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE WEAK LOW PRESSURE FORM ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO WITH A TROUGH STRETCHING FROM THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THROUGH NORTHWEST GEORGIA. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS MID LEVEL DECK AROUND 10K FEET HAS ALREADY INFILTRATED THE AREA WITH NO PRECIP EXPECTED FROM THIS AS LOW LEVELS REMAIN MUCH TOO DRY THROUGH EARLY EVENING. SURFACE FEATURES ARE AWAITING THE ARRIVAL OF SHORTWAVE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS WHICH LATEST SHORT TERM RUC FORECAST SHOWS ENHANCING CURRENT PRECIP FIELD OVER THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY BY 22Z. .WINTER WEATHER EVENT OVERVIEW AND UNCERTAINTIES... OVERALL FORECAST REMAINS UNCHANGED FOR THE UPCOMING PACKAGE WITH GFS/ECMWF AND NAM12 BEGINNING TO HONE IN ON A SOLUTION WHICH IS CLOSE TO CURRENT FORECAST. LOW PRESSURE WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHERN GULF BUT HAVE A TOUGH TIME SPREADING THE DEEPEST MOISTURE NORTHWARD. WILL INSTEAD HAVE TO RELY ON A TOP DOWN MOISTENING OF THE COLUMN IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING SHORTWAVE. GIVEN CURRENT LOW LEVEL PROFILES INITIAL WAVE OF PRECIP WILL BE UTILIZED IN SATURATING THE LOW LEVELS...FURTHER LIMITING TOTALS. IN ADDITION...A BRIEF PERIOD OF RAIN MIXED WITH SNOW INITIALLY ALONG WITH ABOVE FREEZING GROUND TEMPS WILL KEEP ACCUMULATIONS IN CHECK THROUGH MIDNIGHT. WHILE THESE WOULD BE NEGATIVE FACTORS FOR ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL...SUBTLE CHANGES IN THE MODELS...NAMELY FORCING FROM BOUNDARY LAYER FRONTOGENESIS AND EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL VORTICITY ALOFT...SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR SOME BANDING FEATURES ACROSS NORTHERN SECTIONS AND A SEPARATE AREA ACROSS EASTERN ZONES THU MORNING. THIS WOULD ALLOW ISOLATED LOCATIONS TO SEE A QUICK BURST OF MODERATE SNOWFALL BUT REMAINS TOO DIFFICULT AT THIS TIME TO PIN DOWN DEFINITIVE AREAS OF CONCERN. WILL HIGHLIGHT ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS IN WEBINAR AND UPCOMING UPDATED WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THE AREA. HAVE ALSO ADJUSTED SNOW TOTALS SLIGHTLY UPWARD TO SHOW CLOSER TO 1.5 TO 2 INCH AVERAGE ACROSS THE NORTH AND AROUND AN INCH FOR ATLANTA METRO AND SURROUNDING AREAS. FINAL TWEAK WAS TO EXTEND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY SOUTHWARD BY A TIER OF COUNTIES...MAINLY FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM...FRONT WILL SHIFT WELL EAST OF THE AREA WHILE MODIFIED ARCTIC HIGH SETTLES OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND ALLOWS COLDER AIR OVER THE OHIO VALLEY TO FILTER IN. ABUNDANT SUNSHINE DURING THE DAY AND CLEAR SKIES AT NIGHT WILL ALLOW FOR A LARGE DIURNAL RANGE IN TEMPS AS AIRMASS CONTINUES TO MODIFY WITH HIGHS IN THE 40S AND 50S AND LOWS STILL WELL BELOW FREEZING THROUGH SAT MORNING. .LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE IS BRINGING MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH CLIPPER SYSTEM FURTHER SOUTH LATE SATURDAY. STILL LOOKS LIKE MAINLY AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS BUT WILL NEED TO MONITOR FOR POSSIBLE INCLUSION OF LOW END POPS WITH SUBSEQUENT FORECASTS. && AVIATION... 18Z UPDATE... VFR CONDITIONS CONTINUING THIS AFTERNOON WITH A GRADUAL LOWERING OF CIGS INTO THE MVFR RANGE BY 03Z...THEN IFR AFTER 06Z. CONDITIONS EXPECTED TO IMPROVE BACK INTO THE MVFR RANGE BY MID-MORNING THURSDAY... THEN VFR BY AFTERNOON. RAIN DEVELOPING AFTER 00Z...BECOMING MIXED WITH OR CHANGING TO LIGHT SNOW AROUND 03Z. SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE ACROSS METRO TAF SITES. WINDS EAST-SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON...SHIFTING NORTH-NORTHWEST THIS EVENING AND CONTINUING INTO THURSDAY. SPEEDS 8 TO 12 KTS FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD. //ATL CONFIDENCE...18Z UPDATE... MEDIUM TO HIGH ON ALL ELEMENTS. 49 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 32 47 27 50 / 90 10 5 5 ATLANTA 31 43 27 49 / 90 10 5 5 BLAIRSVILLE 27 40 24 45 / 90 10 5 5 CARTERSVILLE 27 42 22 46 / 90 10 5 5 COLUMBUS 33 45 29 51 / 90 10 5 5 GAINESVILLE 31 42 28 48 / 90 10 5 5 MACON 31 48 28 53 / 90 20 5 5 ROME 29 40 21 48 / 90 10 5 5 PEACHTREE CITY 28 43 23 49 / 90 10 5 5 VIDALIA 38 50 34 54 / 80 40 5 10 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON EST THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BALDWIN...BANKS...BARROW... BARTOW...BIBB...BUTTS...CARROLL...CATOOSA...CHATTOOGA... CHEROKEE...CLARKE...CLAYTON...COBB...COWETA...CRAWFORD...DADE... DAWSON...DEKALB...DOUGLAS...FANNIN...FAYETTE...FLOYD...FORSYTH... GILMER...GLASCOCK...GORDON...GREENE...GWINNETT...HALL... HANCOCK...HARALSON...HARRIS...HEARD...HENRY...JACKSON...JASPER... JEFFERSON...JONES...LAMAR...LUMPKIN...MADISON...MERIWETHER... MONROE...MORGAN...MURRAY...MUSCOGEE...NEWTON...NORTH FULTON... OCONEE...OGLETHORPE...PAULDING...PICKENS...PIKE...POLK... PUTNAM...ROCKDALE...SOUTH FULTON...SPALDING...TALBOT... TALIAFERRO...TAYLOR...TOWNS...TROUP...TWIGGS...UNION...UPSON... WALKER...WALTON...WARREN...WASHINGTON...WHITE...WHITFIELD... WILKES...WILKINSON. && DEESE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 436 PM EST WED FEB 9 2011 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-101030- 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- 436 PM EST WED FEB 9 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS NORTH AND MUCH OF CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT. .SYNOPSIS... A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO TONIGHT AS COLD HIGH PRESSURE PERSISTS OVER GEORGIA. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... THE PRIMARY HAZARDS WILL BE ACCUMULATING SNOW AND SLICK SPOTS ON ROADS. .DISCUSSION... A FAST MOVING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN THE NORTHERN GULF WILL SPREAD MOISTURE NORTHWARD INTO GEORGIA THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. COLD AIR AT THE SURFACE WILL PROVIDE THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW FOR NORTH GEORGIA AND RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL GEORGIA. REFER TO THE LATEST WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ACTIVATION IS NOT REQUESTED BUT SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT REPORTS OF WINTER WEATHER THROUGH THE WEB BY GOING TO WEATHER.GOV/ATLANTA.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
65 winter weather, 5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Dade County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Catoosa County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Chattooga County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout much of the county.
The Walker County 911 Center reported snowfall of 1.0 inch across most of the county.
The Bartow County 911 Center reported generally 0.5 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Carroll County Emergency Management Director reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Floyd County 911 Center reported about 0.5 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Fulton County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across the northern part of the county.
The Gordon County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Haralson County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Murray County 911 Center reported about 0.5 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Paulding County 911 Center reported snowfall of 0.5 inch across most of the county.
The Polk County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Whitfield County 911 Center reported snowfall of 1.5 inches across much of the county.
The Cherokee County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall.
The Cobb County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Douglas County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Fannin County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Fulton County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snow across the southern part of the county.
The Gilmer County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Harris County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall across most of the county.
The Heard County 911 Center reported about 0.5 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Pickens County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Butts County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall.
The observer at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recorded 1.0 inch of snowfall. This was common throughout most of the county.
The Coweta County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout much of the county.
The Dawson County 911 Center reported up to 1.5 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The DeKalb County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
One inch of snowfall was observed at the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City. Similar snowfall amounts were reported from the Fayette County 911 Center.
The Forsyth County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Gwinnett County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall throughout much of the county.
The Henry County 911 Center reported up to 1.0 inch of snowfall across much of the county.
The Lumpkin County 911 Center reported up to 1.0 inch of snowfall across much of the county.
The Meriwether County 911 Center reported about 0.5 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Newton County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Pike County 911 Center reported generally 0.5 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Barrow County 911 Center reported up to 2.0 inches of snow in the county.
The Clarke County 911 Center reported up to 2.0 inch of snowfall in much of the county.
The Hall County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Jackson County 911 Center reported 2.0 inches of snowfall across most of the county.
The Jasper County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Lamar County 911 Center reported up to 0.5 inch of snowfall across much of the county.
The Monroe County 911 Center reported up to 0.5 inch of snow across much of the county.
The Morgan County 911 Center reported about 1.5 inches of snowfall across much of the county.
The Rockdale County 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Spalding County 911 Center reported up to 1.0 inch of snowfall across much of the county.
The Towns County 911 Center reported about 1.0 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Troup County 911 Center reported about 0.5 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Union County 911 Center reported snowfall of 1.0 inch across much of the county.
The Walton County 911 Center reported up to 2.0 inches of snowfall across the county.
The Baldwin County 911 Center reported a trace of snow.
The Banks county 911 Center reported 1.0 inch of snow across the county.
The Bibb County 911 Center reported up to 0.5 inch of snow across the county.
The Greene County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall throughout the county.
The Hancock County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall across most of the county.
The Jones County 911 Center reported up to 0.5 inch of snowfall across much of the county.
The Madison County 911 Center reported up to 1.5 inches of snowfall across much of the county.
The Oconee County 911 Center reported 1.5 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Oglethorpe County 911 Center reported that snowfall up to 2.0 inches was observed across much of the county.
The Putnam County 911 Center reported generally 0.5 inch of snowfall across the county.
The Talbot County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall across most of the county.
The Taliaferro County 911 Center reported 0.5 inch of snowfall across most of the county.
The Taylor County 911 Center reported that only a trace of snowfall fell across the northern part of the county.
The Upson County 911 Center reported snowfall of 0.5 inch across mainly the northern part of the county.
The White County Emergency Management Director reported snowfall of 1.0 inch across the county.
The Crawford County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall in most of the county.
The Peach County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall across most of the county.
The Twiggs County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall, mainly in the northern part of the county.
The Warren County 911 Center reported only a trace of snowfall across most of the county.
The Wilkes County 911 Center reported snowfall of 0.5 inch across most of the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2011
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: 285831, 285816, 285820, 285926, 285806, 285814, 285838, 285840, 285845, 285891, 285904, 285908, 285912, 285930, 285819, 285826, 285834, 285836, 285842, 285843, 285892, 285893, 285910, 285812, 285825, 285828, 285832, 285833, 285837, 285839, 285848, 285894, 285899, 285901, 285905, 285911, 285802, 285822, 285887, 285895, and more.