ATLANTA — Temperatures went up to the low 60s in the metro Monday, helping to melt away more of the snow left behind from Friday’s storm.
Along with some heat, dry air also rolled into Georgia Monday. Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns said temperatures will not fall below freezing overnight, eliminating the worry of black ice the metro saw over the weekend.
School closings: Paulding, Polk and Haralson counties. FULL LIST HERE
Burns said another cold front will make its way into the region Tuesday, dropping temperatures across the metro by the evening.
Temperatures will be around 40 by about 9 a.m. Tuesday. By about rush hour Tuesday afternoon, temps will only rise to about 44 degrees in the metro. The north Georgia mountains will likely not make it out of the 30s Wednesday.
“I don’t think we’re going to get out of the 30s up around Elijay, Blairsville or Hiawassee. These areas will stay in the 30s,” Burns said.
By 11 p.m. Tuesday, the metro will fall to just about freezing, with temperatures expected to plummet throughout the night.
“I’m thinking mid to upper teens for temperatures on Wednesday morning (in the north Georgia mountains). And mid 20s here in Atlanta. So very cold air moving on in,” Burns said.
Burns said, along with the colder air, stronger winds are expected to develop during the day Tuesday.
Temperatures will remain in the 30s and 40 Tuesday when the front comes in. After it, the temperatures dip back down into the 20s for lows.
Around 7 a.m., Burns said there will be winds around 15-20 mph in areas in the north Georgia mountains. Winds will be about 10-15 mph across the metro.
Burns said we could see gusts of up to 25-30 mph by midday in the north Georgia mountains. Gusts across the metro will range from 15-20 mph.
There is another warmup expected by the weekend, with the possibility of showers Sunday.
Cobb schoolS catch heat from parents
Several school districts across north Georgia canceled classes for Monday because of icy conditions, as did many areas with downed power lines and trees because of Friday’s storm.
Cobb County was one of the hardest-hit areas from the storm. Nearly a foot of snow fell there. Parents told Channel 2’s Chris Jose the school district should have kept children home on Friday, instead of having them go to class and releasing them early.
“It's the bus drivers that they put at risk, i's the children they put at risk and it's the teachers,” parent Julia Banks said. "They put a lot of families in danger. They made a lot of families inconvenienced. It was just not a good call."
Banks told Jose she has a 9-year-old who attends Bells Ferry Elementary School.
Cobb County Schools canceled classes for Monday, with officials citing power outages at schools and poor travel conditions in parts of the county.
Banks said the district made the right call for Monday, but the same decision should have been made on Friday.
Cobb County Schools told Jose it will evaluate decisions and actions for continual improvement. Classes will resume across Cobb County on Tuesday.
Neighborhoods dealing with icy roads
In Paulding County, damage from Friday’s storm made driving through some neighborhoods dicey throughout the weekend and into Monday.
Most of the main roads throughout the county were in good shape on Monday. The neighborhood roads were the ones that caused problems for many residents.
“The side streets in our neighborhood were pretty icy still. We have a lot of hills and it’s a lot of black ice,” resident Jenni Rosser said.
Rosser said her family has been without power since Friday. She told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot her family had to hit the road to charge their phones.
“We’re driving around to charge our cellphones and our electronics, to get back up to talk to anyone,” Rosser told Elliot.
Teresa Douglas said she hopes the warmer temperatures over the next few days will help get the ice off her street.
“All in all, it’s clearing up and it’s going to be smooth sailing. And hopefully, after today, it’ll all be better,” Douglas said.
State and county departments of transportation told Elliot they prioritize roads according to size and traffic volume, with bigger roads getting more attention than streets inside subdivisions.
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