After snow fell in parts of Atlanta and across Middle and South Georgia on Tuesday afternoon, a sheen of ice is now coating roads across the state.
The National Weather Service’s winter storm warning that included metro Atlanta expired at 7 a.m. Wednesday. But a cold weather advisory is in its place and encompasses the northern half of the state. The coast and South Georgia remain under the winter storm warning until noon.
Roads everywhere are dangerously slick and flights have been delayed at the Atlanta and Savannah airports. State officials warned the public to stay home and prepare for up to 48 hours of extreme cold that has brought snow to parts of Georgia that haven’t seen such a storm in nearly 40 years.
Here’s the latest on the extreme winter weather affecting the state.
The Savannah region was cloaked in snow and ice overnight, with residents of the coastal islands awakening Wednesday to the unfamiliar sight of snow-covered lawns and icicle-studded rooflines.
The wintry mix along with temperatures in the 20s have led to the closure of most area bridges, including those at the I-95 and I-16 interchange west of Savannah, and local emergency management agencies have deemed many roads impassable. A jackknifed tractor-trailer blocked I-95 south at the interchange.
Local emergency management agencies are advising residents to stay off the roads today.
Temperatures are forecast to remain below freezing throughout the morning before reaching a high of just 34 degrees, resulting in minimal melting of snow and ice. Conditions will fall back below freezing around sunset, with wind chills expected to reach 18 degrees Wednesday night.
Zoo Atlanta said it will be closed Wednesday, citing “inclement winter weather conditions.”
The zoo has not confirmed whether it will stay closed Thursday. Typically, it opens at 10 a.m.
A sheet of ice covered many roads Wednesday morning.
State and local officials repeatedly urged people to stay off the roads, as even salt and brine is struggling to melt the ice due to temperatures being in the teens.
Those same conditions are present on roads across the state.
The bulk of Tuesday’s snow fell in Middle and South Georgia, but some parts of metro Atlanta still got more than an inch.
There was “a sharp dividing line between where we saw snow and where we didn't,” said Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan.
That line was along the I-85/I-20 corridor. Areas to the south saw at least some snowfall while most of those to the north did not. Here are some local totals:
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport: 1.1 inches
Midtown: 0.4 inches
East Lake: 0.8 inches
Fayetteville: 1 inch
Hollonville: 1.8 inches
Barnesville: 1.5 inches
Covington: 1.3 inches
Sharpsburg: 1 inch
Newnan: 0.8 inches
Further south, the National Weather Service reported that Valdosta saw about 4 inches while Lake Park, a smaller city within Lowndes County just above the Florida border, got only an inch.
Bainbridge got just over 6 inches, and Camilla got 8 inches, the NWS reported. Savannah saw between 1 and 3 inches.
Later today, most locations will have bright sunshine, but with highs only reaching the mid 30s, there will be limited ice melt. And anything that does melt will refreeze overnight, Monahan warned.
In Warner Robins, Macon and across vast stretches of Middle Georgia, roads remained treacherous early Wednesday and glazed-over with icy patches.
Bridges and overpasses were especially slick as overnight temperatures plunged into the low 20s.
Emergency officials urged locals to stay home. Schools and government offices across the region closed for the day.
At daybreak, I-75 as far south as Cordele and, further south, Valdosta, was snow-coated in spots but still open, though traffic was almost nonexistent at times. That will likely change region-wide as temperatures rise on what looks to be a sunny day.
The forecast predicts highs in the mid 30s on Wednesday for Middle and South Georgia.
As of about 6:45 a.m, more than 34,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity, the company’s outage map showed. The outages were mainly centered around Brunswick and southern portions of Georgia’s coast. Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, serves more than 2.7 million customers.
Georgia EMC, which represents dozens of electric cooperatives across the state, reported more than 14,000 customers without power as of about 6:45 a.m., with the vast majority located in its Southeast region.
Savannah is experiencing a rare snow day, with one part of the coastal city having received 3 inches of the white stuff as of 3:28 a.m. Wednesday, according to a National Weather Service map.
Savannah’s previous record for accumulated snowfall, 4 inches, was set in 1989. The city last saw snow in 2018.
Like much of the state, the temperature this morning was below freezing, at 27 degrees, with a "real feel" of 19 degrees, according to AccuWeather.
The National Weather Service is still tallying snowfall amounts around Georgia. The early leader, according to its map, appears to be Camilla, a town of about 5,000 in Mitchell County in the southwestern part of the state. As of 10:55 p.m. Tuesday, already 8 inches of snow had fallen there.
Several places even farther south, along Florida's border, also got dumped on. Attapulgus, in Decatur County, about 30 miles north of Tallahassee, had logged 7 inches as of 12:30 a.m., according to NWS. Valdosta, also just north of the Florida border, had received 4 inches of snow as of 10:30 p.m.
Students will have in-person classes Wednesday across the Appalachian foothills region of northernmost Georgia, despite temperatures in the single digits and wind chill readings near zero.
The latest winter storm did not bring snow or ice to Towns, Union and Rabun counties, a rare circumstance when winter weather hits Georgia. Instead, it targeted the southern half of the state in what some called an "'upside down' snowstorm.
"We're going to get temps in the teens every year up here,” said Darren Berrong, Towns County School District superintendent. "As long as we don't get wind chill below zero, that's the number we watch for to keep kids safe."
In southwest Georgia, around Albany, 7 or more inches of snow had fallen before midnight in some towns, including Leesburg, Palmyra and Red Rock, according to a National Weather Service map.