Winter Storm — Coastal Glynn, Georgia

2025-01-21 to 2025-01-23 · Coastal Glynn, Georgia

Event narrative

At 6:30 am on 1/22, the poweroutage.us source indicated about 53% of county utility customers (27,455) were without power due to winter storm impacts. At 8:49 am, the public shared a photo via social media of snow total accumulations of 2.9 inches in St. Simons Island near Sea Palms. At 9 am, the public shared a photo via social media of a large tree branch down on a car in Brunswick due to ice accumulation. By 9:30 am, utility companies shared photos of ice accumulation damage across the county including a snapped power pole, tree branches down on a fence and power line wires down. At 9:45 am, emergency management reported that Interstate 95 was closed at the Glynn-Camden county line due to icy road conditions and multiple vehicle accidents. At 2:45 pm on 1/23, emergency management reported that the Sidney Lanier Bridge was closed due to falling ice from the high spans of the bridge due to melting. The bridge was closed for an extended period of time due to the falling ice threat.

Wider weather episode

A rare winter storm impacted the southeast region as a surface low tracked eastward across the Gulf Coast region with cold air across the region. Snowfall of 3-5 inches impacted parts of SE GA roughly form Homerville to Jesup while a winter mix of sleet and freezing rain impacted locations south of Waycross and east toward the Golden Isles and Nassau County Florida. Ice accumulations caused major damage to trees, power lines and other utilities across the Golden Isles of SE GA and major traffic accidents along and near the Interstate 95 corridor from Glynn County GA to Nassau County FL. Sleet, patches of ice and some snow impacted the Sindey Lanier Bridge in Glynn County. The bridge was closed 1/22 and 1/23 due to falling ice from the high spans.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1226983. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.