Cold air spilling in behind a strong cold front brought a brief period of light to moderate snow to portions of north Georgia the morning of January 29th. Due to temperatures at or slightly above freezing and a very warm ground, mainly light accumulations were reported.
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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.
Cold air spilling in behind a strong cold front brought a brief period of light to moderate snow to portions of north Georgia the morning of January 29th. Due to temperatures at or slightly above freezing and a very warm ground, mainly light accumulations 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 Jan 29, 3:54 AM EST, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 354 AM EST Tue Jan 29 2019 .SHORT TERM /Today through Wednesday/... Main concerns are will there be any snow on the back edge of precip today and if so, how much will accumulate. Relying heavily on observed trends for forecast through 18Z today. KHTX radar shows back edge of precip moving into northcentral AL with temps still in the mid to upper 30s just behind back edge. Few if any observations of snow in this area, though did see one mPing snow report near Fayetteville TN north of Huntsville. Also worth noting that trends over last 6 hours of HRRR runs has shown warmer temps ahead of the front over ATL metro, indicating front may be moving in slower than expected. As of this writing, have used colder side of guidance solutions for temps, however with warmer temps ahead and along front, am getting a little lower snow amount totals than prev forecast. Also seeing this trend in 00Z NAM, GFS, CMC and ECMWF amounts. Based on these lower totals and observed and near term model trends, have downgraded warning to an advisory over north GA. Will continue to monitor far for possible early cancellation once back edge of precip moves in and we get more reports. Still concern for refreezing of liquid around and after sunset as temps fall below 30F. Fortunately, total liquid equivalent precip still only expected to be 0.15 to 0.20 inches across northwest 1/2 of state for this event with lesser amounts to the southeast. If we get enough sunshine and winds in the afternoon, we could evaporate the bulk of water on roads, however there remains some uncertainty. Sheltered areas will see much less wind and evaporation and will be more susceptible to refreezing. Winds will die down late tonight but pick back up Wednesday and could approach advisory criteria. SNELSON .LONG TERM /Wednesday Night through Monday/... Cold start to the extended forecast period quickly moderates as the persistent, deep upper trough over the eastern U.S. shifts off shore and the general upper flow de-amplifies by the end of the work week. Region comes under, then remains under, the weak, nearly zonal, southern branch through the majority of the period. Series of weak, fairly quick-moving, waves zip through the flow across the region bringing slight chance to chance POPs back into the forecast by the weekend. Temperatures rebound to at or above normal for the weekend and into early next week. 20 && .AVIATION... 06Z Update... No major changes to the previous forecast. Storm system still on track to move rapidly across the forecast area today. MVFR cigs will spread across the region this morning and lift rapidly this afternoon to VFR. West to southwest winds will become northwest and gusty this afternoon. Band of rain and rain/snow mix will move into the ATL area this morning with rain moving into AHN/CSG/MCN by mid morning. The precip will exit by early to mid afternoon. //ATL Confidence...06Z Update... Medium confidence. 17 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 49 22 43 23 / 80 5 0 0 Atlanta 46 23 40 24 / 100 5 0 0 Blairsville 38 16 31 16 / 80 5 0 0 Cartersville 42 20 39 20 / 90 5 0 0 Columbus 47 25 47 28 / 100 5 0 0 Gainesville 45 23 38 22 / 80 5 0 0 Macon 53 23 48 25 / 90 5 0 0 Rome 38 20 38 18 / 90 5 0 0 Peachtree City 46 21 44 23 / 100 5 0 0 Vidalia 61 26 47 30 / 90 10 5 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 7 PM EST this evening for the following zones: Bartow...Carroll...Catoosa...Chattooga... Cherokee...Clayton...Cobb...Coweta...Dade...Dawson...DeKalb... Douglas...Fannin...Fayette...Floyd...Forsyth...Gilmer...Gordon... Gwinnett...Hall...Haralson...Heard...Lumpkin...Murray...North Fulton...Paulding...Pickens...Polk...South Fulton...Towns... Union...Walker...White...Whitfield. && SHORT TERM...SNELSON LONG TERM....20 AVIATION...17
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 401 AM EST Tue Jan 29 2019 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-300915- 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- 401 AM EST Tue Jan 29 2019 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North and Central Georgia. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight... ...A winter weather advisory is in effect over portions of north and west Georgia today... Some snow accumulations are likely across portions of north Georgia, generally north and west of I-85 as a cold front moves through. There is still uncertainty regarding amounts of snow accumulations and how far south and east the threat may extend, however up to an inch of snow is likely, with locally higher amounts possible. Please refer to the winter weather product /ATLWSWFFC/ for more specific information. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday... Very cold temperatures are expected Wednesday and Thursday mornings with wind chills in the teens. Otherwise no hazardous weather is expected. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed through tonight.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
8 winter weather, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The Chattooga County Emergency Manager reported a trace of snow in the Menlo/Cloudland area.
The local broadcast media reported a half of an inch of snow on Lookout Mountain.
The local broadcast media reported 2 inches of snow measured on Fort Mountain.
A COOP observer reported a trace of snow in Eton.
Reports of a trace of snow were received on social media from the Morganton and Blue Ridge areas.
The Pickens County Emergency Manager reported a trace of snow in the Talmadge and Sequoya Lake areas.
The public reported a third of an inch of snow in the Blairsville area.
The Towns County Emergency Manager reported a trace of snow in the Lake Chatuge and Titus areas.
A trained spotter reported a trace of snow in Acworth.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2019Every state in 2019This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, January 2019
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: 799882, 799884, 799877, 799880, 799881, 799883, 799885, 799886, 799878.