Winter Storm in Spalding County, Georgia

Widespread 1 to 2 inches of snow across Spalding County. Roads quickly became snow covered and very slick which led to numerous accidents, especially over untreated roadways.

The second Arctic airmass of the year was entrenched across the eastern United States during mid-to-late January. As an area of low pressure developed over the Texas Gulf coast and pushed eastward to the northern Gulf coast, moisture spread northward into the lingering cold airmass beginning during the late morning of January 21st. Initially, a deep layer of dry air was in place early on the 21st before the moisture was able to moisten the column. With temperatures throughout the atmospheric column below freezing throughout the day on Tuesday the 21st, snow was able to fall in central Georgia and portions of north Georgia. By early evening, dry air took over most areas north of Macon and Columbus resulting in the end of the snowfall event, but in portions of central Georgia moisture stayed resulting in snowfall banding throughout the evening and early morning hours before tapering off.By the time the precipitation ended, several inches of snow (with one area close to ten inches) had accumulated across most of central Georgia with up to an inch observed closer to metro Atlanta. Due to the cold temperatures in the mid 20s and rush hour traffic, as soon as the snow fell it melted and refroze instantly on the roadways leading to icy roads for many on Tuesday evening into Wednesday morning as temps struggled to reach above freezing until Thursday.