Winter Storm Warning Extended; Icy Conditions Predicted Through Thursday

Some commuters were forced to spend the night in their vehicles, while others abandoned them and fled on foot.

Governor Nathan Deal yesterday declared a state of emergency for all of Georgia’s 159 counties, freeing resources to allow state agencies to respond to the situation.

WABE’s John Lorinc spoke to Brian Lynn, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City.

An interview between WABE and the National Weather Service.

He says a winter storm warning remains in effect on Wednesday until 1:00 p.m.

The forecasters at the National Weather Service do not expect temperatures in the metro Atlanta area to get more than a degree or two above freezing today and remain in the 20s in north Georgia. 

That means the ice plaguing Atlanta’s roads and interstates will not be melting much during the day. And what does melt during the day today will freeze hard overnight, likely making Thursday’s conditions even worse.

The forecasters caution that this is the same kind of situation we had in 2011, when the metro area was locked in place for almost a week by ice that kept refreezing.

Update 1:15 p.m.

As noted at the top of this post, the National Weather Service has extended its winter storm warning to noon on Thursday, January 30.  This Civil Emergency Message was sent at the request of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) for residents of GEMA Zone 7, which includes the counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Douglas, Rockdale, Fayette and Henry.  

  The following is quoted from the GEMA/NWS warning:

A state of emergency remains in effect for all of Georgia due to impacts from a winter storm on Tuesday through this morning.

A combination of some sleet initially followed by 1 to 3 inches of snow caused most roadways to become extremely hazardous and in many cases impassable. The ice and snow has been compacted into solid sheets of ice which continues to cause treacherous road conditions. Hundreds of vehicles and trucks are still stranded or abandoned on portions of the interstates and primary roads in the Atlanta metro area. Any melting that occurs this afternoon will Refreeze tonight as temperatures fall into the teens.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency requests that travel be limited to emergencies only for your safety, and for the safety of emergency officials and Georgia Department of Transportation employees that continue to respond to the dangerous impacts of the winter storm.