Winter Storm in South Fulton, Georgia

A significant winter storm impacted north and portions of central Georgia on Tuesday the 11th and Wednesday the 12th. Light snow began across north Georgia early Tuesday morning with the first round of wintry precipitation, followed by a brief lull Tuesday night, and a second, more significant, round of snow, sleet, and freezing rain on Wednesday morning, ending finally as light snow Wednesday evening. Overall across the Metropolitan Atlanta counties and areas east (along and just south of Interstate 85) and west (along Interstate 20), sleet accumulations of 0.25 to 0.75 inches, freezing rain accumulations of 0.1 to 0.25 inches, and snowfall accumulations of 1 to 2 inches were reported.

The second major winter storm in as many weeks hit north and central Georgia on February 12th. An area of extremely strong cold air damming moved down the Eastern Seaboard and into north Georgia on the 12th. Southwest flow aloft allowed significant moisture to move across the Southeast, with a disturbance pushing across the southern tier of the country. A surface low developed in the northern Gulf on the 12th, pushing into extreme Southeast Georgia on the 13th. Moisture overspread the area in advance of the surface low and with cold surface temperatures in place from the cold air damming, another significant winter storm hit the area.

This storm was different from the storm two weeks prior for two main reasons: firstly, residents across north and central Georgia were well-prepared for the event, and secondly, this storm brought with it catastrophic accumulations of ice along the Interstate 20 corridor east of Atlanta towards Athens. Significant amounts of snow fell in north Georgia as well. The crippling nature of this winter storm, unlike the first, was not necessarily due to the societal impacts but rather to the significant accumulations of ice and snow and resulting widespread power outages.