.SHORT TERM…
(Today through Saturday Night)
Issued at 350 AM EST Fri Jan 30 2026

Winter Storm Tonight through Saturday:

The main story over the next 24-48 hours will be a winter stormmoving across portions of TN, GA, and the Carolinas and leaving a path of snow in its wake. This storm is being driven by a few factors coming together just right, with the biggest being a very anomalous upper level low dropping out of Canada across the Midwest US today, before swinging over the Southeast US tonight and Saturday. As the upper level low descends out of Canada, it will clear a path for strong surface high pressure and an arctic airmass to drop right in behind it. Meanwhile, out ahead of the upper low, a weak shortwave and associated surface low will slide across the northern Gulf coast today. These features will all start to work together tonight into Saturday, as the cold airmass with below freezing temperatures spreads into the Southeast US under the core of the upper level low, and the surface low begins to rapidly intensify off the GA/SC coast. Moisture wrapping around the strengthening coastal low will spread over Georgia and the Carolinas, combining with large scale ascent from the upper level low to create widespread snowfall across the region. This regional-level view of the overall meteorological setup is something we continue to have high confidence in. Unfortunately, there are a few things we are not as confident in due to the potential variations in track, speed, and orientation of the upper level low. One big question from this is where will the cutoff of the moisture/snow be over Georgia? Guidance continues to show the areas most likely to see several inches of snow are across northeast and east-central Georgia, where a Winter Storm Warning is now in place. Overall, expecting around 2-4 inches of snow in this area, with locally higher amounts possible. We could see some intense squalls and banding at times in this corridor, as high-resolution models have been depicting areas of low-level convergence and weak instability. Given this, it would not surprise me at all if we saw some very localized spots get over 6 inches of snow. Further west, confidence begins to decrease in how much moisture will be around and for how long. Guidance has a bit more spread on this, but has at least 80% chances for over a trace of snow across portions of northwest and west-central Georgia, including the Atlanta Metro. These areas have been placed under a Winter Weather Advisory, due to the combination of snowfall, gusty winds, and hazardous wind chills. Chances for over 2 inches of snow are very low (under 15%) for these areas, but are still worth keeping an eye on as the event gets closer. In both these areas, temperatures will already be in the 20s if/when snow starts falling, so travel conditions will instantly deteriorate as the snow will stick to roads and other surfaces. Add in breezy northwest winds gusting 20-30 mph and brief periods of low visibility will also be possible. Bottomline, everyone in north and east-central Georgia needs to be weather aware tonight through Saturday evening, and do their best to avoid unnecessary travel.

Dangerous Cold and Wind Chills:

The other noteworthy headline over the next few days in Georgia will be the cold temperatures and wind chills. The aforementioned arctic airmass will plunge across the state tonight and over the weekend, with temperatures rapidly dropping from the 40s and 50s this afternoon, to below freezing overnight. Low temps on Saturday morning will be in the 20s in north GA, with breezy winds dropping ‘feels-like’ temperatures another 10-15 degrees. Unfortunately these will not improve during the day, as high temps will struggle to climb above 30 for most of north GA, and 32-35 in central GA. An Extreme Cold Watch remains in effect for all of north and central Georgia for Saturday evening through Sunday morning, as low temps fall to the low to mid teens, and breezy NW winds create ‘feels-like’ temps in the single digits above and below zero.

&&