Power outages surged across Georgia after sundown Friday as winds picked up, temperatures dropped and freezing rain turned to ice on power lines and tree branches.
At about 5:45 a.m. Saturday, more than 80,000 of Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers were without power. Most were around metro Atlanta. That was up from about 67,000 late Friday. Georgia EMC, which represents the cooperatives that primarily serve rural parts of the state, showed more than 7,000 customers without power early Saturday morning, down considerably from more than 30,000 at 8 p.m. Friday.
Things have continued to improve. By about 11 a.m., Georgia Power was reporting fewer than 60,000 outages, while Georgia EMC’s figure was down to about 4,000.
Georgia Power, which had warned of outages due to ice, falling trees or other weather-related causes, moved in crews from South Georgia to help and has reinforcements elsewhere it can call on.
Snow reached Atlanta around 7 a.m. Friday. It was the most widespread snow the metro area has seen since January 2018, with just over 2 inches in Atlanta and about 3 inches in other parts. The night before snow, forecasts indicated only half an inch would stick.
The National Weather Service said Saturday that wind gusts up to 25 mph, along with rising temps this afternoon, would aid in melting snow and drying out the roads.
Slick roads and black ice could remain a problem Sunday morning but afternoon highs will get above freezing at around 40 degrees, meaning most of the ice should melt.
“Some improvement of roads will happen, but not all roads may clear, especially in shady areas,” the Weather Service said of Sunday conditions.
Slippery roads, crashes and stranded drivers
Since the 2014 debacle known to history as “Snowpocalypse” or “Snowmageddon,” where just over 2 inches of wintry precipitation managed to paralyze the city for days, Atlanta has gotten vastly better at weathering the weather.
By Thursday, Atlanta’s streets had already been treated with about 20,000 gallons of brine, Mayor Andre Dickens said. The Georgia Department of Transportation began treating nearly 20,000 lane miles of road in central and North Georgia by Wednesday. The agency brined interstates and state routes again Friday evening for Saturday ice.
Even with all the road prep, the Atlanta Hawks were forced to postpone their Saturday game against the Houston Rockets originally scheduled for 3 p.m. at State Farm Arena. A new date has not been set.
The Atlanta Department of Transportation confirmed they would begin treating local streets and cul-de-sacs on Saturday. By evening, GDOT spokesman Scott Higley said they would decide whether to brine the roads again for Sunday.
“It’ll be based on a number of factors such as moisture content on the roads, air temperature, road surface temperature, the wind factor,” according to Higley.
In Gwinnett County, bus services were canceled Saturday and officials said they would only resume Monday.
MARTA bus service was also suspended Saturday morning due to road conditions. Officials stated that essential bus routes may resume once safety conditions are assessed, and transit rail services are operating on their weekend schedule.
Area school systems, businesses and municipal agencies were proactive in announcing Friday cancelations and government officials urged drivers to stay off the roads. Most did and traffic was markedly lighter. Still, just a few hours into the snow Friday, several crashes and stranded drivers in Gwinnett, DeKalb, Cobb and Fulton counties had already been reported by police.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
The weather on the way
Sunny skies will return on Sunday as metro Atlanta gets through the last of the slushy roads, but hazards could persist in some areas. Anything that didn’t evaporate Saturday will be hazardous by Sunday morning due to below freezing overnight temperatures.
“One factor that will work against us Sunday morning is the predicted very cold temperatures for early Sunday, which will make it very hard to keep ice from forming if roads are still wet from melting precipitation on Saturday and Saturday evening,” Higley said.
After Sunday, the metro will be mainly dry but it will still be cold.
Overnight lows are expected to remain in the mid to high 20s, and highs should be in the 40s until at least Wednesday. After Thursday, lows will increase to at least the 30s, and highs will reach the 50s in Atlanta.
Power disruptions on some of the coldest days
Outages across North Georgia began to tick up early Friday evening and into Saturday morning due to heavy ice accumulation on power lines and tree branches, and other weather-related causes. Georgia Power explained that icy roads and winds create challenging conditions for repairing power lines.
“We understand how important power is, especially in this cold. Know that we are committed to working safely and as quickly as possible to restore your power,” the agency said.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Cobb EMC, which provides power to customers in Cobb, Bartow, Cherokee, Fulton and Paulding counties, said they expected to have power restored by Saturday, but recognized that “outage numbers could potentially increase depending on wind conditions and additional ice accumulation.”
A standstill airport
Those who hoped to travel by plane suddenly found themselves stuck at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as airlines canceled hundreds of flights. Delta Air Lines confirmed Friday that more flight disruptions were possible through Saturday as they worked to recover from more than 1,000 flights that had been canceled already.
Cancelations have been due to snowy and icy runways that staff have had to deice before planes can take off and land, the backlog of traffic due to delayed flights and a Friday evacuation after a Delta plane had an engine issue.
On Saturday at Hartsfield-Jackson, the Delta cancellations across its route network include more than 245 cancellations of departures or arrivals in Atlanta, amounting to about 20% of its flight schedule in Atlanta, according to FlightAware. Frontier, Spirit, American and Southwest also canceled a portion of their flights in Atlanta for Saturday.
Tay Williams was trying to get to Los Angeles to catch a cruise but his flight got cancelled after he arrived at the airport Friday. He planned to sleep in the terminal to try to catch his rebooked flight Saturday morning.
“We have no choice,” he said. “And it’s snowing outside, so we don’t want to get back on the road like that.”
Before the ice, there was fun
At Piedmont Park, some locals brought out their skis and snowboards, while others improvised with items found around their homes. Before dawn Saturday, discarded cardboard boxes, broken plastic sleds and scattered makeshift boogie boards now litter the park’s iconic sloping hills.
And throughout Atlanta, snow angels and snowmen was left behind every few blocks.
Few businesses opened Friday morning, but plenty of residents near the Buckhead Village walked around the winter wonderland with a coffee in hand. Cody Aminus, who is a general manager at The Salty Donut near the Buckhead Theater, said she got to the shop around 5 a.m. before the snow started. At first, there were no customers in sight. And then it became even busier than a regular Friday.
“Everyone started coming in and being like, ‘I saw somebody with a coffee cup,’ and then I started getting a line out the door after the real snow stopped and the sun came up, and then I’ve been busy ever since,” she said.
A Waffle House on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell was surprisingly busy Friday morning despite only serving a limited menu typically reserved for emergency situations. Fitness instructor Andi Dunlop, who is training to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in July, trekked about a mile with her husband in the cold snow to get some breakfast.
On the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail, Joslyn “JoJo” Caldwell sported a pink snowsuit as she walked with her parents, Whitney and Jesse. It was the first snowfall of the 2-year-old’s life and she was enjoying it, wanting no part of the stroller her parents were pushing.
“(JoJo) asked, ‘Are we going to make a snowman?’” Whitney Caldwell said. “‘Are we going to make snow angels?’”
