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.
After being closed for two days, Zoo Atlanta will reopen Thursday.
The zoo typically opens at 10 a.m., but it will welcome visitors starting at noon due to continued efforts to clear inclement weather conditions, officials said.
About 16,000 customers are still without power Wednesday evening after the winter storm that struck the day before. Most of the customers without electricity are concentrated around Brunswick and the southern portions of Georgia’s coast.
Around 9:30 p.m., Georgia EMC reported about 2,000 customers without power, while Georgia Power reported just under 14,000 customers affected.
MARTA will resume bus, streetcar and mobility services Thursday in phases. Real-time updates can be found here.
Officials said bus service will begin at 1 p.m., with only select routes operating during phase one. In phases two and three, more routes will be added until all routes are in service.
Rail service will start at 6 a.m. with a 20-minute frequency on all lines. The Red Line will run from North Springs to Lindbergh until conditions and staffing levels improve.
Streetcar service will operate on a regular schedule starting at 8:15 a.m.
Mobility service will resume at noon, with the first pickup at 1 p.m. for medical trips only.
Gov. Brian Kemp said the State Capitol will “return to normal” Thursday after being closed this week.
But he urges Georgians in icy conditions to limit their travel.
“If you’re seeing ice now, assume there will still be ice in the morning and make proper decisions to keep you and your family safe,” he said.
Several metro Atlanta school districts, including DeKalb, Fayette and Henry, said they will remain closed Thursday.
The University of Georgia will delay opening Thursday until 10 a.m. The first in-person class for students will begin at 11:10 a.m.
While sunny conditions and temperatures in the mid-30s thawed many metro Atlanta roads Wednesday, state officials have warned residents to avoid driving after sunset.
"Black ice is possible for locations with snow/ice still on the ground, so as a safety precaution, please stay home and off the roads once the sun goes down," Georgia's Emergency Management Agency said on social media.
Traffic experts said road conditions are likely to be highly inconsistent thanks to patches of pavement that remained untreated or shaded throughout the day.
"(W)hat is wet now will most likely freeze again tonight, causing dangerous conditions once again," Channel 2 Action News traffic anchor Mike Shields said.
GEMA shared a map of low temperatures forecast across the state Wednesday night and Thursday morning, including a low of 20 degrees in the Atlanta area.
Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-30s throughout the day have coastal Georgia region emergency managers concerned about black ice tonight and into Thursday morning.
The slow sleet and snow melt, combined with limited but steady traffic, turned many roads into slushie strips of pavement Wednesday afternoon. That wintry mix is forecast to freeze once temperatures drop below freezing again after sunset.
Overnight lows are projected in the low 20s, and temperatures aren’t forecast to breach the freezing point until noon Thursday.
Glynn County, home to Brunswick and the Golden Isles, issued a 6 p.m. curfew for all residents, county commission Chairman Walter Rafolski said, calling the storm an “unprecedented event” for coastal Georgia.
The Savannah region saw more snow – 3.5 inches in some areas – than neighboring Brunswick but dealt with a slew of traffic-related incidents throughout the day Wednesday. Savannah-area police departments responded to more than 130 vehicle crashes.
Schools in metro Savannah, Brunswick and elsewhere along the coast will remain closed to on-campus classes Thursday.
All flights in and out of Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport are canceled for the remainder of Wednesday, a spokesperson said.
The decision was made with the possibility of refreezing tonight in mind. Spokesperson Lori Lynah said they hope the runways, which have been closed since Tuesday, reopen Thursday.
They will reassess as they work to keep the runways and taxiways safe.
Courtney Shelley, 44, saw the urgent call for help pop up around 6 a.m. Wednesday on his NextDoor app, which he uses to connect with neighbors in Stone Mountain.
A woman was seeking help for her 30-year-old son, who had been stranded on the road all night as temperatures dipped below 20 degrees.
Luckily, Shelley's home is just a 10-minute walk from the man's location, and he volunteered to help.
As Shelley made the treacherous ice walk, he counted more than a dozen cars stuck on the road.
“I could hardly even walk,” Shelley, who owns a landscaping tree service, said. “I tread through the grass and walked through so that I could have traction with the snow compared to the ice. Cars were stuck everywhere.”
When he located the car, the man was huddled underneath a blanket in the driver’s seat, with the heater turned up.
“I gave him a bottle of water and some crackers and allowed him to call his mom,” Shelley said.
More than 30,000 customers across Georgia were still without power Wednesday afternoon after the winter storm that struck the day before.
Just before 4 p.m. Wednesday, more than 25,000 of Georgia Power's 2.7 million customers statewide were without electricity, the company’s outage map showed. That's down from the roughly 36,000 outages the company was responding to mid-morning. Most customers without electricity are concentrated around Brunswick and southern portions of Georgia’s coast.
Georgia EMC, which represents dozens of electric cooperatives across the state, reported its members had more than 6,000 customers without power at around 4 p.m. Most of those were also in the state's southeastern corner.