Winter Storm in Dawson, Georgia

Snow showers began overnight on the 29th and continued through the afternoon the following day. A band of heavy snow set up through the morning resulting in a concentrated band of highest accumulations and a sharp gradient cut-off to the west. Total snow accumulations ranged from just 1 inch to 5 inches.

An anomalously deep upper low barreled into the region on Saturday, January 31, bringing very cold temperatures. As the low dropped southeastward into the Carolinas, moisture wrapped around the backside of the low, bringing bands of snowfall across much of northeast and east-central Georgia. Snowfall totals were maximized where these bands occurred, reaching as high as 4-7 in many areas.

Given the narrow nature of these snow bands, areas just a few miles to the west (including much of metro Atlanta) saw very little snowfall, though windy and very cold conditions occurred areawide. Wind chills reached dangerously cold subzero levels across much of the area by the night of January 31 into the morning of February 1.