A dry cold front pushed through the area on the 1st, bringing a cold airmass to north and central Georgia. High pressure built in behind the front, and pushed offshore on Saturday the 2nd.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 dry cold front pushed through the area on the 1st, bringing a cold airmass to north and central Georgia. High pressure built in behind the front, and pushed offshore on Saturday the 2nd. An upper level clipper disturbance pushed through the Ohio Valley on the 2nd as well. Meanwhile, two weak surface boundaries moved through the area, one on Saturday afternoon and the other Saturday night, both of which brought shallow moisture to the area. With northwest winds, uplift as a result of topography enhanced the clipper system, and the resulting precipitation changed over to snow across portions of north Georgia. In the end, snowfall accumulation totaled generally betwee 3 to 5 inches, mainly across the mountains.
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 2, 6:50 AM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 650 AM EST SAT FEB 2 2013 .SHORT TERM /TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... BOTH MODELS...THE NAM AND GFS ROTATE MOISTURE THROUGH THE AREA. HOWEVER...THE NAM HAS A MORE SHALLOW MOISTURE FIELD AND PUSHES IT THROUGH THE AREA MUCH QUICKER THAN DOES THE GFS. BY 18Z SUNDAY...THE NAM ALREADY HAS THE DRIER AIR IN PLACE. ON THE OTHER HAND...THE GFS HAS TWO BOUNDARIES TO MOVE THROUGH. THE FIRST BOUNDARY PUSHES THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...GIVING US OUR FIRST SHOT OF PRECIP...WHICH IS EXPECTED TO BE MAINLY LIQUID...BUT A MIXTURE IS POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. THEN AS THE SECOND BOUNDARY MAKES IT WAY THROUGH OVERNIGHT...THE BETTER CHANCE OF SNOW OCCURS OVER THE NORTH AND MOUNTAINOUS SECTIONS. THE GFS ALSO HAS THE CLOUD COVER LINGERING MUCH LONGER...CLOUDS TO THE NORTH AND CLOUDS TO THE SOUTH...BUT A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY HAS DRIER AIR NOSING INTO WEST CENTRAL GEORGIA SUNDAY NIGHT. AS THESE BOUNDARIES MOVE THROUGH THE AREA...WINDS WILL GO FROM NORTHWEST AROUND THE DIAL BACK TO NORTHWEST AGAIN SUNDAY NIGHT. 37 .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... LARGE BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES IN THE EAST THROUGH THE LONG TERM. THIS UPPER TROUGH KEEPS GA IN NEAR ZONAL WEST TO NORTHWESTERLY FLOW WITH SEVERAL SHORT WAVES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. THE FIRST ONE MOVES THROUGH TUESDAY WITH THE SECOND MOVING THROUGH THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY. FOR NOW THERE IS VERY LITTLE INSTABILITY WITH THESE TWO SYSTEM SO WILL CONTINUE WITH A CHANCE TO SLIGHT CHANCE OF RAIN FOR NOW. THE ONE MOVING THROUGH TUESDAY MAY DROP A BIT OF SNOW ACROSS THE NORTH GA MOUNTAINS TUESDAY NIGHT BUT ONLY EXPECTING A DUSTING IF ANYTHING AT ALL. TEMPS IN THE EXTENDED APPEAR TO BE NEAR SEASONAL NORMS. 01 && .AVIATION... 12Z UPDATE... CLIPPER LIKE SYSTEM PUSHES INTO STATE LATE TODAY. SATL SHOWING CLOUD BAND FM WRN TN INTO SE AR AT 4-6KFT. CIGS LOWERING TO 4-5KT OVC-BKN IN LIGHT RAIN AS FAR SOUTH AS ATL. AFTER 03Z CIGS BECOMING BKN-SCT AS SYSTEM LIFTS TO NORTHEAST. WINDS BECOMING SOUTHWEST BY AFTERNOON AND FINALLY W-NW AFTER FRONTAL PASSAGE. //ATL CONFIDENCE...12Z UPDATE... HIGH ON CIG...VSBY...WX...AND WIND SPEEDS. MEDIUM ON TIMING OF WIND SHIFTS. 37 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 50 33 52 29 / 20 30 0 0 ATLANTA 51 35 53 31 / 20 20 0 0 BLAIRSVILLE 42 31 44 23 / 50 50 10 0 CARTERSVILLE 50 31 51 26 / 30 40 0 0 COLUMBUS 58 39 59 35 / 5 10 0 0 GAINESVILLE 46 33 50 29 / 40 40 0 0 MACON 55 35 60 32 / 5 10 0 0 ROME 48 31 50 26 / 40 40 0 0 PEACHTREE CITY 52 32 55 27 / 20 20 0 0 VIDALIA 61 37 60 36 / 5 5 0 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 AM EST SUNDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: FANNIN...GILMER...MURRAY...TOWNS...UNION. && SHORT TERM...37 LONG TERM....01 AVIATION...37
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 531 AM EST SAT FEB 2 2013 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-031045- 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- 531 AM EST SAT FEB 2 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... RAIN MIXED WITH SNOW TODAY TURNING TO SNOW TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA. DISCUSSION... THERE IS A CHANCE OF LIGHT SNOW AND SNOW MIXED WITH RAIN TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH GEORGIA. PRECIPITATION MAY START AS MOSTLY SNOW THIS MORNING ACROSS THE FAR NORTH, BECOMING MAINLY RAIN BY LATE MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON BEFORE MIXING WITH OR CHANGING TO SNOW ONCE AGAIN AS WE HEAD INTO THE EVENING. THE PRECIPITATION TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LIGHT WITH MOST AREAS SEEING NO ACCUMULATIONS. A DUSTING OF AROUND A QUARTER OF AN INCH OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE FAR NORTH WITH AROUND AN INCH POSSIBLE IN HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTH GEORGIA MOUNTAINS BEFORE THE SNOW ENDS LATE SATURDAY NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... A COUPLE OF WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL BRING MAINLY SHOWERS TO THE AREA ON TUESDAY AND AGAIN ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .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.
8 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Gilmer County Emergency Manager reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 4 and 5 inches in the higher elevations by 630 PM. In the lower elevations, accumulations were generally between 2 and 3 inches.
The Pickens County Emergency Manager reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 4 and 5 inches in the higher elevations, specifically on Burnt Mountain, by 630 PM. In the lower elevations, accumulations were generally between 2 and 3 inches.
The Towns County Emergency Manager and 911 Call Center reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 4 and 5 inches across most of the county by around 630 PM.
The Union County Emergency Manager and 911 Call Center reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 4 and 5 inches across most of the county by around 630 PM.
The White County Emergency Manager and 911 Call Center reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to around 3 to 4 inches across the northern part of the county by about 700 PM. The higher elevations had up to 5 inches of snow.
The Lumpkin County Emergency Manager and 911 Call Center reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 3 and 4 inches, with up to 5 inches in the higher elevations, by about 630 PM.
The Fannin County Emergency Manager and 911 Call Center reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 3 and 4 inches, with up to 5 inches in the higher elevations, by about 630 PM.
The Murray County Emergency Manager and 911 Call Center reported that the snow began falling in the late morning and had accumulated to between 2 and 3 inches up at Fort Mountain by about 630 PM. The lower elevations had less than 2 inches.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2013
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: 428323, 428324, 428325, 428326, 428327, 428328, 428329, 428330.