Georgia Weather Forecast: Snow Is On The Way

ATLANTA, GA — It probably won't be another Snowmageddon, but metro Atlanta could be seeing its first snow of the season as early as Thursday night.

The National Weather Service has issued a special weather statement, saying a light rain across north and Central Georgia Thursday could turn into a mix of rain and snow, or just snow, by late Thursday night.

The snow is most likely in parts of west-central and north Georgia. It's predicted to end across north Georgia Friday evening, but move into parts of central Georgia by Friday night.

The weather service says snow accumulations are possible late Thursday and Friday from near Hamilton — near Columbus in west-central Georgia — to metro Atlanta. They'll then move northeast toward the north Georgia mountains.

"Due to the warm ground as well as surface temperatures remaining above freezing, most, if not all of the accumulation will be in grassy areas and on elevated surfaces," the Weather Service said in the statement. "As the rain and snow mix moves into central Georgia Friday night, light accumulations are possible as far south as Columbus, Americus and Dublin. Most, if not all of the accumulation Friday night will be in grassy areas and on elevated surfaces."

That's good news for Georgians who remember icy storms shutting down traffic on the highways around metro Atlanta when ground temperatures allowed ice to form on the roads.

We'll get much colder temperatures behind the storm system Friday night and Saturday morning. Most of the precipitation will be gone by then, according to the NWS, but roads still wet could freeze very quickly before they dry, forming "black ice." The biggest danger for that will be Friday night into Saturday morning.

In Atlanta, Thursday's high temperature is forecast to be 48 degrees, dipping down to 37 on Thursday night. The bottom drops out Friday, when the high should be just 38 and the low a freezing 30 degrees.

Saturday night could get all the way down to 26 degrees and Sunday is forecast to have a low of 29.

Photo via Shutterstock