S. A cold airmass across north and central Georgia combined with rich moisture drawn north from the Gulf of Mexico to produce a mixture of rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow across north and portions of central Georgia.
Every event with a place to put it; 36 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.
During the afternoon of January 6th through the morning of January 7th a fast moving but strong storm system swept across the southeastern U.S. A cold airmass across north and central Georgia combined with rich moisture drawn north from the Gulf of Mexico to produce a mixture of rain, sleet, freezing rain and snow across north and portions of central Georgia.
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 Jan 6, 6:26 AM EST, 5 hours 34 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 626 AM EST Fri Jan 6 2017 .UPDATE... Updated for the 12Z Aviation Discussion. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /Issued 443 AM EST Fri Jan 6 2017/ ..SIGNIFICANT WINTER STORM UNDERWAY... SHORT TERM /Today through Saturday night/... Primary concern is forecast timing and ptype of significant winter storm. Appears things are still on track though temps slightly warmer and dewpoints slightly drier than forecast in the near term. As moisture aloft and precip increase, expect these differences to even out as evaporative cooling takes place. Very cold air upstream over OH and TN valley region about where models expected them to be. Temps in the teens now entering NW TN and subfreezing temps now in far NW GA. Low level temperatures will be key in forecast ptype and amounts this afternoon and tonight. Models are showing warm layer aloft now a little stronger than previous runs. Based on expected temperature profiles with this warmer layer, have added more sleet and even some freezing rain to the forecast. This has reduced final snow amounts some over westcentral Georgia and south ATL metro but has introduced some light ice accumulations up to 0.05 inches, including parts of west ATL metro and NW GA. This matches WPC guidance and neighboring offices well. 00Z model guidance still showing warm advection aloft kicking in after dark as sfc temps cool. 00Z ECMWF and quick peak at 00Z ECMWF EPS show they have come back around on the snow bandwagon but still not as aggressive as GFS. Compromise with WPC guidance and local accumulation tools still yield substantial accumulations of 2-4 inches across much of north GA from ATL metro into NE GA and 5+ inches in mountains. Important note: if sfc temps cool more quickly than forecast at lowest 1000ft, which could occur if convective precip with high snow rates develops, could see quite a bit more snow than currently forecast. Currently, some of this potential is factored in to amounts, so if we see no convective or CSI banding, final amounts will likely be a little less. Lapse rates above the warm nose are quite steep for a winter event, 500-700mb lapse rate around 6- 7deg/km 00Z Sat, but not seeing much CAPE. Finally another concern is very warm sfc temps and dewpoints over middle and south GA this morning. This could get pulled up into warm nose over much of the eastern half of the area (east of I-75), reducing snowfall and enhancing rain and perhaps sleet amounts. Precip winds down quickly Saturday morning and pushes out quick by noon. Temps will be quite cold in wake of the system with apparent temps (i.e. wind chill) going to single digits over all of north GA and below zero mountains Sat night, very close to wind chill advisory. Black ice also likely to be an issue as even wet areas in middle GA that saw no snow refreeze. SNELSON/11 LONG TERM /Sunday through Thursday/... Quiet but cold weather to start the long term as dry surface high pressure builds to the central to southern Appalachians on Sunday. Forecast high temperatures are expected to run around 15 degrees below normal. Dry weather expected to continue on Monday but moisture returns by Tuesday with mainly small chances for light rain over n GA in the overrunning type flow. Rain/shower chances go up Tuesday night and Wednesday for n and portions of central GA as a cold front moves into the area Wednesday morning. Not much instability with this front so far so only showers associated. The front looks to stall across the area so mainly small rain chances continue on Thursday for n and portions of central GA. High temperatures begin to warm on Monday and continue to warm to around normal on Tuesday then above normal for Wednesday and Thursday. BDL && .AVIATION... 12Z Update... A mix of VFR and MVFR conditions will become all MVFR this morning...becoming IFR late this afternoon and tonight. Precip will spread across the forecast area through the day with a rain/sleet/snow mix in the ATL/AHN/CSG area this evening. Precip will become all snow in ATL/AHN late this evening with vsbys dropping below 1 mile in snow. The snow will end from the west Saturday morning with rapidly improving cigs. Winds will be north northwest around 10 to 12 kts...increasing to 15 to 25kts tonight. //ATL Confidence...12Z Update... Medium on timing of mix of rain/sleet/snow today. High on remaining elements. 17 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 41 30 36 17 / 100 100 60 0 Atlanta 37 24 31 16 / 90 100 40 0 Blairsville 36 20 27 9 / 60 100 40 0 Cartersville 36 22 31 13 / 60 100 30 0 Columbus 44 29 37 20 / 100 100 30 0 Gainesville 39 25 32 15 / 80 100 50 0 Macon 45 33 39 20 / 100 100 50 0 Rome 36 22 31 14 / 50 90 20 0 Peachtree City 38 26 33 17 / 100 100 40 0 Vidalia 57 40 42 25 / 60 100 80 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Storm Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 1 PM EST Saturday for the following zones: Banks...Barrow...Bartow... Butts...Carroll...Cherokee...Clarke...Clayton...Cobb...Coweta... Dawson...DeKalb...Douglas...Fayette...Forsyth...Greene... Gwinnett...Hall...Haralson...Harris...Heard...Henry...Jackson... Jasper...Lamar...Lumpkin...Madison...Meriwether...Monroe... Morgan...Newton...North Fulton...Oconee...Oglethorpe... Paulding...Pickens...Pike...Polk...Putnam...Rockdale...South Fulton...Spalding...Talbot...Taliaferro...Troup...Upson... Walton...White...Wilkes. Winter Storm Warning from 1 PM this afternoon to 1 PM EST Saturday for the following zones: Catoosa...Chattooga...Dade... Fannin...Floyd...Gilmer...Gordon...Murray...Towns...Union... Walker...Whitfield. && SHORT TERM...SNELSON LONG TERM....BDL AVIATION...17
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 500 AM EST FRI JAN 6 2017 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-071100- 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- 500 AM EST FRI JAN 6 2017 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... A WINTER STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL GEORGIA FOR THIS AFTERNOON UNTIL 100 PM SATURDAY. REFER TO THE WINTER STORM WARNING PRODUCT /ATLWSWFFC/ FOR MORE INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... RAIN AND SNOW WILL BE ENDING ON SATURDAY WITH MAYBE A QUARTER INCH OF SNOW POSSIBLE OVER THE FAR EAST AND NORTHEAST FORECAST AREA IN THE MORNING. STRONG GUSTY WINDS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED ON SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. HOWEVER... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY FREEZING RAIN...SLEET OR SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ACROSS THE AREA.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
19 winter weather, 17 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
A CoCoRaHS observer in the Summerville area reported an inch of snow.
CoCoRaHS observers in the Ringgold area reported between a half inch and one inch of snow.
Several COOP and CoCoRaHS observers reported between 3 and 4.5 inches of snow across the county, including in the Cherry Log, Morganton, Blue Ridge and Suches areas. The highest amounts around 4.5 inches were reported in the Morganton area.
Several reports of 2.5 to 4 inches of snow were received from CoCoRaHS observers and the public around the Ellijay area.
The Bartow County 911 center as well as several COOP observers and the general public reported 2 to 2.5 inches of snow around the county, including the Cartersville, Adairsville and Kingston areas. The ASOS in Cartersville, KVPC reported .01 inches of freezing rain early in the evening.
Several reports of 4 to 6.5 inches of snow were received from CoCoRaHS observers and the public in the Hiawassee, Friendship and Young Harris areas.
The Gordon County 911 center reported 2 inches of snow in Resaca. Several reports of 1 to 2 inches of snow were received from CoCoRaHS observers and the public in the Calhoun and Sugar Valley areas.
The Cherokee County Emergency Manager reported 3 inches of snow in the Lake Arrowhead area. Several reports of 2 to 3 inches of snow were received from CoCoRaHS observers in the Ball Ground, Holly Springs, Canton and Woodstock areas.
The Union County Emergency Manager and several CoCoRaHS observers reported 4 to 5 inches of snow in the Blairsville area.
One inch of snow was reported by an amateur radio operator in Tunnel Hill and a CoCoRaHS observer near Dalton.
The Floyd County 911 center and a COOP observer reported one half to one inch of snow in the Floyd Springs and Rome areas.
The public reported just under an inch of snow in the Rossville area.
The Lumpkin County 911 center, several CoCoRaHS observers and the public reported from 1 to 4.5 inches of snow across the county. The highest amounts reported, from 3 to 4.5 inches, were in the Dahlonega area.
Reports of 1.5 inches of snow were received from a COOP observer and the public in the Chatsworth area.
The Polk County 911 center reported 1.5 inches of snow in the Lake Creek area. A CoCoRaHS observer in the Cedartown area reported around a half inch of snow.
The Dawson County Emergency Manager reported 2 inches of snow in Dawsonville.
The Pickens County 911 center, several CoCoRaHS and COOP observers and the public reported between 2 and 4 inches of snow across the county, including in the Nelson and Jasper areas.
Several CoCoRaHS observers and the public reported one to one and a half inches of snow in the Mars Hill Crossroads and Flowery Branch areas.
Numerous reports of 2 to 3.5 inches of snow were received from the White County 911 center, CoCoRaHS and COOP observers and the public across White County, including around Helen, Cleveland, Pink, Saute and Nacoochee.
The public reported at least 1.5 inches of sleet in the Mount Bethel and Lost Mountain areas as well as a quarter of an inch of freezing rain in Marietta. Several CoCoRaHS reports of a half inch or less of snow were received.
The Banks County Emergency Manager and several CoCoRaHS observers reported around 1.5 inches of snow across Banks County, including in the Hollingsworth and Baldwin areas.
Several reports of a quarter on an inch of freezing rain were received from the public in the Decatur, Northwoods and Emory areas, inckuding .24 inches from the ASOS at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, KPDK. Several CoCoRaHS reports of a quarter of an inch or less of snow were received from the Tucker and Decatur areas.
A National Weather Service employee, county officials and the general public reported around a quarter of an inch of freezing rain across the Atlanta Metropolitan area. Several reports of large branches and even trees brought down by ice were received.
County officials and the general public reported around a quarter of an inch of freezing rain across the Atlanta Metropolitan area. Several reports of large branches and even trees brought down by ice were received. The ASOS at Fulton County Airport, Brown Field, reported .24 inches of freezing rain.
Several CoCoRaHS observers reported a light dusting, generally a quarter of an inch or less, of snow in the Dacula, Suwanee, Buford and Lawrenceville areas.
Several CoCoRaHS observers reported between 1 and 2 inches of snow across the county including around Gainesville and Flowery Branch. A recently retired National Weather Service employee reported 2 inches of snow in the Timberidge area.
The Douglas County Emergency Manager and the public reported around a quarter of an inch of freezing rain.
The Fayette County 911 center reported .15 inches of freezing rain. Several other reports of .05 to .15 inches of freezing rain were received including .08 inches fro the ASOS at Falcon Field Airport in Peachtree City.
A CoCoRaHS observer reported a dusting of snow in the Carrollton area. Several reports of a tenth of an inch or less of freezing rain were received around the county.
The ASOS at Atlanta Hartsville-Jackson International Airport recorded just under a third of an inch of freezing rain. A COOP observer in Jonesboro reported a very light dusting of snow as the storm ended early in the morning.
Several reports of around a tenth of an inch of freezing rain were received from CoCoRaHS observers and the public in the Newnan and Senoia areas.
Several CoCoRaHS and COOP observers reported a dusting, generally a half of an inch or less, of snow in the Danielsville and Commerce areas.
Several CoCoRaHS observers reported a dusting, generally a half inch or less, of snow in the Bogart, Bishop and Watkinsville areas.
Several CoCoRaHS observers in the Athens and Winterville areas reported a dusting of snow, generally a quarter of an inch or less.
A COOP observer near Washington reported a dusting, around a quarter on an inch, of snow.
Several CoCoRaHS observers reported a light dusting, generally a quarter of an inch or less, of snow in the Pendergrass and Braselton areas.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, January 2017
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: 668160, 668158, 668172, 668195, 668156, 668210, 668197, 668161, 668212, 668218, 668177, 668214, 668202, 668204, 668208, 668168, 668207, 668180, 668217, 668166, 668143, 668169, 668185, 668193, 668198, 668199, 668170, 668174, 668157, 668165, 668167, 668203, 668205, 668162, 668220, 668200.