A fast moving short wave swept through north Georgia during the evening and early morning hours. Despite little available moisture, the storm was able to produce scattered snow showers in far north Georgia.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 fast moving short wave swept through north Georgia during the evening and early morning hours. Despite little available moisture, the storm was able to produce scattered snow showers in far north Georgia. Mainly trace amounts of snow were reported.
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 24, 6:31 PM EST, 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 631 PM EST WED FEB 24 2016 .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 239 PM EST WED FEB 24 2016/ SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST FOR THE CWFA THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. STILL SEEING FREQUENT GUSTS TO AROUND 35KT ACROSS NORTH AND CENTRAL GA...BUT GUSTS WILL EVENTUALLY DECREASE TO AROUND 25 KT FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. EVEN THOUGH GUSTS MAY DECREASE TO BELOW WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR A FEW HOURS THIS EVENING...STILL THINK SOILS ARE SATURATED ENOUGH FOR ADDITIONAL DOWNED TREES. STRONG UPPER LOW WILL MOVE OVERHEAD TONIGHT...HELPING PROMOTE ISOLATE SCATTERED SHOWERS OVERNIGHT. AT THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS ACROSS NORTHEAST GA...RAIN MAY MIX WITH SNOW DURING THE EVENING...AND THEN TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW OVERNIGHT. MOISTURE IS SOMEWHAT LIMITED...SO KEEPING SNOWFALL AMOUNTS JUST AROUND AN INCH. NW FLOW WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH MUCH OF THURSDAY...BUT THE FORECAST WILL REMAIN DRY. TEMPS BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. NLISTEMAA LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... RELATIVELY QUIET FCST PERIOD STILL ON TAP WITH A FEW UPPER SHORTWAVES AND WEAK ATTENDANT SFC FRONTS TO POTENTIALLY INFLUENCE THE CWA. THE FIRST OF WHICH LOOKS TO BE ON SATURDAY THOUGH A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST AND SHOULD KEEP CONDITIONS DRY. THE SECOND WAVE WOULD BE ON MONDAY AND HAS A BIT MORE ACCOMPANYING MOISTURE AND A WEAKENING RIDGE TO THE EAST AHEAD OF IT...SO HAVE CONTINUED SLIGHT TO LOW END CHANCE POPS BUT JUST FOR SHOWERS SINCE PROGGED CAPE IS NEXT TO NIL. FOR TEMPS...GUIDANCE BLEND STARTS WITH FRIDAY CLOSE TO NORMS...THEN A NICE REBOUND TO ABOUT 5-7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMS THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. BAKER && .AVIATION... 00Z UPDATE... SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE DIMINISHING AND WILL CONTINUE WITH VCSH THRU 02Z. VFR CIGS WILL BECOME MVFR THIS EVENING AND REMAIN MVFR THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY MORNING. CIGS SHOULD BECOME VFR BY 14/15Z ALL SITES. WINDS WILL DIMINISH SOMEWHAT THIS EVENING BUT REMAIN GUSTY IN MOST PLACES THROUGH THURSDAY. GUSTS SHOULD INCREASE TO NEAR 25KTS BY 18Z THURSDAY. //ATL CONFIDENCE...00Z UPDATE... MEDIUM ON TIMING OF MVFR. HIGH ON ALL REMAINING ELEMENTS. 17 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 38 52 32 54 / 40 5 0 0 ATLANTA 37 51 32 52 / 40 5 5 0 BLAIRSVILLE 33 43 27 45 / 50 20 10 0 CARTERSVILLE 37 48 30 50 / 40 10 5 0 COLUMBUS 39 57 35 55 / 10 5 0 0 GAINESVILLE 36 47 31 49 / 40 10 5 0 MACON 39 57 34 55 / 10 5 0 0 ROME 37 48 31 51 / 40 10 5 0 PEACHTREE CITY 37 52 31 52 / 30 5 5 0 VIDALIA 42 60 37 57 / 10 5 0 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 AM EST THURSDAY 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. && SHORT TERM...17 LONG TERM....20 AVIATION...17
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 1029 AM EST WED FEB 24 2016 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-251530- 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- 1029 AM EST WED FEB 24 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... A STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT ASSOCIATED WITH A DEEP SURFACE LOW TRACKING JUST NORTH OF THE STATE WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING. A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA THROUGH 1 AM TONIGHT. WRAP AROUND MOISTURE BEHIND THIS DEPARTING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM COULD RESULT IN LIGHT WINTRY PRECIPITATION ACROSS PARTS OF FAR NORTH GEORGIA TONIGHT... WITH LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW UP TO AN INCH POSSIBLE... BUT MAINLY IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NO LONGER NEEDED ALTHOUGH... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT WEATHER REPORTS THROUGH THE WEB BY GOING TO WEATHER.GOV/ATLANTA.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 217 PM EST WED FEB 24 2016 GAZ006>009-015-016-251500- FANNIN-GILMER-UNION-TOWNS-LUMPKIN-WHITE- 217 PM EST WED FEB 24 2016 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY FOR HIGHER ELEVATIONS OVERNIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING... SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE 2000 FEET...RAIN WILL START TO MIX WITH SNOW EARLY THIS EVENING AND TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW BY MIDNIGHT. MOISTURE WILL BE LIMITED SO SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD BE LIGHT AND MAINLY ON GRASSY AREAS OR ELEVATED SURFACES. SNOWFALL TOTALS OF AN INCH OR LESS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH NEAR MID MORNING THURSDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A COOP observer west of Sautee reported a trace of snow.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2016
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: 614340.