That’s what the forecaster at the National Weather Service called this weekend’s weather in North Georgia. After a brief round of sleet around sunset, the second wave of wet weather arrived in mid evening as far south as Americus, and moved northward, with significant icing across much of North Georgia.

Temperatures continued to drop as the wet weather arrived, caused by evaporational cooling. In metro Atlanta, temps were in the mid 20s at 5 AM, with freezing weather as far south as middle Georgia. At this point, temps are not expected to go above freezing until sometime Sunday morning. Freezing rain, and possibly some snow will continue throughout the period, with the heaviest icing in the metro Atlanta area. After 7 PM, the chance of freezing rain drops overnight.

The winter storm warning remains in effect until 4 PM. Travel isn’t recommended, with I-85 closed in the Hamilton Mill area. Looking out my window, I can see what looks to be about a quarter inch of snow/sleet on the ground, not only in grassy areas, but also on the street. I’ll try to get out once it gets light to get some pictures. Some folks have posted their experiences from earlier last evening in the ‘comments’ area of the post below. Please tell us what you see using the Comments link.

The National Weather Service forecast map for today shows the wide-ranging effects of the storm. While we’re getting freezing rain, heavy snow is possible in an boomerang shaped area from eastern Illinois, to West Virginia, and on south through eastern Tennessee. The freezing rain will move up through North Carolina and Virginia.

Yesterday’s winter weather watch has become today’s winter storm warning, in effect from 9 PM on Friday through 4 PM on Saturday. Predictions on the location and scope of the storm have not changed too much since the watch was issued Thursday afternoon.

The biggest threat is for freezing rain, which could accumulate to between 1/4 and 1/2 inch in Gwinnett County. We could also see some sleet, particularly early in the storm, and some snow mixed in as well. The precipitation should slack off late Saturday afternoon, and then return as rain on Sunday.

The big question is how warm it will get on Saturday afternoon. Overnight lows will be between 27 and 29 degrees. If temperatures stay below freezing for most of the afternoon, we have a greater potential for ice accumulation. Saturday’s predicted high is 34 degrees, with temperatures rising above freezing around noon, and remaining steady through Sunday morning, when the temperature should begin to rise to about 50 degrees through the afternoon, ending the weather threat.

The predicted amount of ice accumulation on trees, power lines and other above-ground objects means that there is a good chance of a power failure during the period, and ice damage to trees. Make sure you are prepared for the possibility of no power tomorrow.

I will try to post observations and pictures of any damage I see locally, although if the power does go out, I won’t be able to update anything on the site, including the currrent conditions. Feel free to post your observations as well, using the comment link below.

I found a good picture of the New England Blizzard of Sunday, January 23rd. This image, taken on Monday, January 24th shows the effects of 30+ inches of snow in the New England area. (Courtesy of NOAA Operational Significant Event Imagery).

In addition Brendan Loy has a great animated gif of the storm’s progress in his blog.

The National Weather Service in Boston is calling this weekend’s winter storm “a top 5 historic snowfall”. As the snow begins to die down, the temperature is in the low teens, and the area is expecting winds greater than 20 MPH, which will cause blowing and drifting snow throughout the area. Boston Logan reported a 55 MPH gust, while Nantucket reported an 84 MPH gust.

Snow reports from the area include:

Windsor Locks, CT - 12.5 inches as of 1:08 PM
Sandwich, MA - 24.0 inches as of 3:15 PM
Taunton, MA - 26.0 inches as of 3:31 PM, with five foot drifts
North Andover, MA - 33.0 inches as of 1:00 PM
Cambridge, MA - 30.0 inches as of 2:58 PM
Boston Common, MA - 26.0 inches as of 1:16 PM
Cranston, RI - 21.0 inches as of 2:53 PM

Locally, we too experienced a brisk wind throughout the day, with the temperature staying below the freezing mark. As I write this, we have had a wind run of 122 miles today, on top of 68 miles yesterday, with most of that after 9:00 PM.

Wind Run is a measurement that combines wind speed and wind duration. It measures the distance an object would be pushed by the wind if it were not subject to friction and gravity. Given that the total wind run for the month is 723 miles, we have had over a quarter of the total wind volume for the month in the last day.

After a cold night tonight, things look to warm up considerably as we move through the week. Wednesday looks to be the warmest day, with a high near 60, and after tomorrow night, we shouldn’t see overnight lows below 32 degrees until the first of February. A front will pass by on Thursday, but isn’t expected to bring any precipitation. Looking at the first week of February, things are a bit more unsettled, with the National Weather Service predicting warmer than normal temperatures, and normal precipitation.

A British psychologist has determined that January 24th is the most depressing day of the year for most people. This MSNBC article says that a combination of winter weather, breaking New Year’s resolutions, and holiday bills all reach their peak tomorrow. Have a nice day.

The first major winter weather event of 2005 brought plenty of snow to the Mid-Atlantic states on Saturday. New snowfall records were set at Boston’s Logan Airport and Manhattan’s Central Park. Here are some 24 hour snowfall totals for selected cities, as of early late Saturday or early Sunday, January 23, 2005:

Philadelphia, PA - 11 inches as of 1:00 AM
Blue Bell, PA - 12 inches as of 2:00 AM
Allentown, PA - 8.3 inches as of 1:00 AM
Wilmington, DE - 8.0 inches as of 1:00 AM
Mount Holly, NJ - 9:0 inches as of 1:00 AM
Central Park, NY - 8.5 inches (a new record)
Darien, CT - 13.5 inches as of 11 PM
New Haven, CT - 10.0 inches as of 12 AM
Newark, NJ - 8.9 Inches as of 12 AM
Oyster Bay NY - 13.0 inches as of 1:15 AM
La Guardia Airport NY - 10.0 inches as of 12:00 AM
Boston Logan Airport, MA - 9.1 inches as of 12:00 AM
Hyannis, MA - 17.8 inches as of 4:10 AM
Peabody, MA - 24.0 inches as of 6:23 AM
Worcester, MA - 18.1 inches as of 5:38 AM
Amherst, NH - 18.0 inches as of 6:31 AM
West Warwick, RI - 14.0 inches as of 3:56 AM

The snow is expected to continue in New England until late this afternoon, with 10 to 16 inches expected in Portland, Maine and 28 to 38 inches expected in Boston. The situation is made worse, with high winds averaging 30 MPH.