A fast moving upper-level short wave swept through the region with an associated surface low tracking across the northern Gulf of Mexico and south Georgia. Cold air in place across north Georgia produced a mixture of rain and snow with accumulating snow in parts of northeast and north central Georgia.
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 fast moving upper-level short wave swept through the region with an associated surface low tracking across the northern Gulf of Mexico and south Georgia. Cold air in place across north Georgia produced a mixture of rain and snow with accumulating snow in parts of northeast and north 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 Feb 6, 3:14 PM EST, 46 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 314 PM EST Sat Feb 6 2021 .SHORT TERM /Today through Monday/... As the short term period begins, the frontal boundary previously stalled across the northern Gulf of Mexico is lifting back to the north as an open trough swings northeastward towards from the ArkLaTex towards the Tennessee Valley and a surface low in the Gulf approaches the Florida Panhandle. Precipitation chances are increasing northward, which is expected to continue through the afternoon hours today. Upper level flow out of the southwest ahead of the trough will continue bring warm, moist air over the cooler/drier air across the forecast area at the surface. On that topic... In spite of temperatures in the mid to upper 40s, light sleet is currently being observed in the southern portion of the metro area courtesy of the wet-bulb effect from dry surface layer air and dewpoints as low as the teens. Sleet should transition to all rain in this area as the warm front continues to lift northward and more moisture spreads into that area. Liquid QPF amounts associated with this system are expected to range from primarily 0.50" to 0.75," with the highest amounts in east-central Georgia and along the I-85 corridor. With very limited instability associated with this system, thunder has not yet been observed and is not anticipated as precipitation spreads through north and central Georgia. As the system begins to move off to the northeast during the evening and into the overnight hours, wintry precipitation is expected with borderline freezing temperatures across far north Georgia. Most recent model solutions have been trending slightly warmer with overnight temperatures, although that has not had an appreciable effect on the snow forecast. Thermal profiles from model soundings indicate a warm nose aloft, and therefore the probability of sleet and freezing rain potentially occurring during the transition from rain to snow, particularly across far northeast Georgia, most likely in a time window between 03-06Z. Ice accumulations are currently expected to be 0.05" or less, and mainly confined to the higher elevations (2000 ft or above) of far northeast Georgia. Snowfall accumulations are currently expected to be between 1 and 3 inches at above 2000 ft and one inch or less at elevations of 2000 ft or below. Locally higher amounts will also be possible in the highest elevations. As a result of these forecast snowfall totals and potential for ice mentioned earlier, both the Winter Storm Warning in Union, Towns, White, and Lumpkin counties and the Winter Weather Advisory in Fannin, Gilmer, Dawson, and Pickens remain in effect from 6 PM this evening until noon on Sunday. Precipitation is expected to exit the forecast area on Sunday morning, leading to a benign end to the short term period. Clearing skies are expected throughout the remainder of the day as cooler and drier northwesterly low-level flow filters into the area and high pressure develops over the eastern CONUS. Slightly below average temperatures are forecast Sunday and into the overnight hours, with highs ranging from the mid 40s in far northeast Georgia to the upper 50s in east-central Georgia in the afternoon and lows in the upper 20s to mid 30s during the early morning hours Monday. King .LONG TERM /Monday Night through Friday/... Dry start to the long term period with a broad trough over the US causing near-zonal to barely SW flow aloft with a surface high off the east coast. Model guidance consensus doesn't last long with Euro and GFS pinging perturbations within said flow at alternating time frames. Overall, this pattern sets us up for a messy week with off and on rain chances through Wednesday. Guidance has started to come into better agreement about the late week system with both Euro and GFS progging a long wave trough digging in across the plains, enhancing moisture availability across the SE. Shortwave is expected to push across the southeast, increasing PoPs to Chance for south Georgia to Likely for north Georgia. Kept thunder in the grids for this system with model guidance showing 750 J/kg of SBCAPE in south central GA down to around 250 J/kg near the ATL Metro area ahead of the front. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but surface temps between the two models have increased for Saturday night/Sunday morning by about 10-15 degrees in comparison to the 00z Saturday run. Not all hope is lost though, with a surface high moving into the Ohio River Valley and the system moving out of of the area, have low end slight chance of a light wintry mix overnight Friday for far north Georgia. However, with model inconsistency, have low confidence on the wintry mix as it hinges on timing of system departure and strength of the high pressure system. PoP chances decrease through the rest of the extended as the system moves out with the CWA entering broad SW flow aloft once more. High temps through Thursday should be in the mid 50s to upper 60s before the cold front arrives, pushing high temps down to the 40s to 50s for Friday and Saturday. Low temps should be mild through Thursday night, in the mid 40s to mid 50s. Once the front arrives, it cools of again with lows in the mid 20s to mid 30s. Morgan && .AVIATION... 18Z Update... As the period begins, VFR ceilings and visibilities are present at all TAF sites, with -SHRA ongoing at CSG/MCN. As showers spread northward, ceilings are expected to lower, becoming MVFR by 19-20Z at CSG/MCN and 22Z at the ATL sites and AHN. IFR ceilings are expected at all sites this evening by 00Z. A light rain/sleet mix is briefly possible at the northern TAF sites in the mid-afternoon hours, but should transition to all liquid precipitation by late afternoon. Light rain/snow mix is possible across the northern tier overnight. After precipitation starts to taper off after 06-07Z, LIFR ceilings will be possible before gradual improvement after sunrise. Visibility restrictions of 2-4 SM are furthermore anticipated throughout the overnight hours. E winds at mainly 7-11 kts will persist until weakening to 4-7 kts and shifting to NE by 11- 12Z Sunday. //ATL Confidence...18Z Update... Low to medium confidence on the extent of frozen precipitation. Medium to high confidence on all other elements. King && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Athens 51 36 55 32 / 90 90 20 0 Atlanta 54 37 50 32 / 90 90 20 0 Blairsville 46 32 46 29 / 80 90 30 0 Cartersville 48 35 50 29 / 80 80 20 0 Columbus 51 42 56 36 / 90 90 5 0 Gainesville 48 34 52 32 / 80 90 20 0 Macon 51 41 58 34 / 90 90 20 0 Rome 48 37 50 29 / 80 80 20 0 Peachtree City 52 37 53 31 / 90 90 10 0 Vidalia 49 45 59 38 / 90 90 20 0 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until noon EST Sunday for the following zones: Dawson...Fannin...Gilmer...Pickens. Winter Storm Warning until noon EST Sunday for the following zones: Lumpkin...Towns...Union...White. && SHORT TERM...King LONG TERM....Morgan AVIATION...King
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Peachtree City GA 244 PM EST Sat Feb 6 2021 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-071945- 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- 244 PM EST Sat Feb 6 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of North and Central Georgia. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight... A Winter Storm Warning and Winter Weather Advisory are in effect for portions of the north Georgia mountains beginning this evening and lasting through Sunday morning. A wintry mix of snow and sleet, possibly changing to freezing rain at times, can be expected. Snow and ice accumulations will be highest at elevations above 2000 feet. See ATLWSWFFC for further details. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday... There is some potential for additional wintry precipitation for the end of next week. Uncertainty remains high with this event, so please monitor for likely changes in future updates. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not requested but spotters are encouraged to submit reports of winter weather through the web by going to weather.gov/atlanta. Please relay any information about observed winter weather to the NWS while following all local, state, and CDC guidelines.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm, 4 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Reports from the Banks County Emergency Manager and CoCoRaHS and CO_OP observers showed 1.5 to 3 inches of snow accumulated across the county. The highest amounts were across the northern end of the county with 2.9 inches reported near Baldwin.
Reports from CoCoRaHS and CO_OP observers showed 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulated across the county. The highest amount was 2 inches reported near Gainesville.
Reports from CoCoRaHS observers and the public showed 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulated across the county. The highest amount was 2.8 inches reported near Dahlonega.
Reports from CoCoRaHS and CO-OP observers showed 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulated across the county. The highest amount was 2 inches reported in a couple of locations near Sautee.
A CoCoRaHS observer reported around 1/4 of an inch of snow near Auburn.
A CO-OP observer reported a light dusting of snow near Adairsville.
A CoCoRaHS observer reported 1 inch of snow near Blue Ridge.
CoCoRaHS observers reported 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch of snow near Buford and Dacula.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 2021
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: 933184, 933185, 933186, 933187, 933188, 933189, 933190, 933191.