Cartersville, Bartow Schools Make Decision On Classes, Activities (UPDATED)

CARTERSVILLE, GA -- In light of the National Weather Service declaring a winter storm warning for north and central Georgia, the Cartersville City and Bartow County school systems will close up shop early on Friday.

Cartersville City Schools will be closing two hours early on Friday, Jan. 6 due to the inclement weather forecast, the system said on its Facebook page.

Each school will dismiss two hours earlier than their normal time. All buses at each school, including special education buses, will be running two hours earlier for dismissal. Car riders at all schools and student drivers at the high school will be dismissed two hours early.

There will be no after-school childcare at any of the schools on Friday.

For its part, Bartow County schools will release its elementary schools at 12:30 p.m. while its middle and high schools will be released at 1:30 p.m. After-school care has also been cancelled in the Bartow County School System.

Both entities have also called off any school-related or extra-curricular activities for Saturday, Jan. 7.

The winter storm watch was upgraded Thursday afternoon to a winter storm warning that will go into effect 4 p.m. Friday Jan. 6 to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7. Residents should expect anywhere from 4 to 6 inches of snow, with locally higher amounts.

The timing of the weather should begin Friday evening as rain, snow or sleet, and turning into all-snow overnight Friday. NWS states the snow is slated to end from west to east throughout Saturday morning.

Of course, roads will become slick, making travel dangerous and strongly discouraged. Temperatures Friday will fall into the low to mid 30's, and drop even further into the mid to upper 20's by Saturday morning.

Some areas can expect highs to be in the 30's through Saturday, "and some areas may struggle to rise above freezing," NWS added.

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