UPDATE [2:45 p.m.]: The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch to go into effect late Monday night. Several metro Atlanta counties are included in the watch, including Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Clayton and Fulton.
Snow accumulations are possible up to 2 inches, according to the Weather Service, mainly along and north of a line from Franklin to Jonesboro to Gainesville. The watch is scheduled to expire at 10 p.m. Tuesday.
RELATED: Delta warns winter storm could disrupt Atlanta flights
"Travel could be very difficult," the Weather Service said in an alert. "The hazardous conditions could impact the morning or evening commute."
ORIGINAL STORY: It is looking more likely that North Georgia will see snow Tuesday when a winter weather system moves through the state, but the chance much will stick is low, according to Channel 2 Action News.
The front is expected to reach Georgia early Tuesday morning and bring some rain to the northwest corner of the state before switching to a wintry mix and finally making the changeover to snow, Channel 2 meteorologist Eboni Deon said.
Out-of-towners headed to Atlanta to partake in Super Bowl festivities, take note: Deon said all of North Georgia “will definitely want to plan ahead for this event.”
“It does look like much of North Georgia will at least see some snowflakes flying,” she said on Sunday. “But as far as accumulation, not many areas beyond Atlanta and points off to our south and off to our east are going to see that, because the system will be moving so quickly and it will have limited moisture to work with.”
By noon Tuesday, it should be making its push through Atlanta. While Deon expects less than an inch of accumulation in metro Atlanta, she said some higher elevations in the North Georgia mountains could get 1 to 3 inches of snow.
There is an 80 percent chance of wintry precipitation, according to the latest forecast.
“Into our north and western suburbs, that is where we could be talking maybe a dusting, but certainly less than an inch,” she said.
The weather system is expected to hit just days before Atlanta hosts Super Bowl 53 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The eight-day pregame events began on Saturday with the Super Bowl Live concert series in Centennial Olympic Park and the Super Bowl Experience at the Georgia World Congress Center.
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Thousands of fans have already flocked to the city to enjoy the festivities before the big game, and while it does not look like they’ll be snowed in, Deon said drivers will need to take it easy out on the roads.
Far more concerning than accumulating snow, she said, is dangerous driving conditions caused by lingering moisture and plummeting temperatures. Once the system clears, Deon said North Georgia is in for an “arctic blast.”
MORE: Super Bowl 53: Some road closures already in place, more to come
Temperatures are expected to hit a high of 43 degrees in Atlanta early in the day on Tuesday before falling quickly to a low of 20 degrees overnight.
“With the system moving through and the much colder temperatures, we're going to be dealing with some icy conditions out on the roadways, bridges, overpasses,” Deon said. “Black ice will continue to be a threat going into late Tuesday night, but then also Wednesday morning for the Wednesday morning drive, as the surfaces will be wet and then freeze.”
She said the forecast could change between now and Tuesday. She expects Channel 2 will have a more fine-tuned forecast 12 to 24 hours before the system hits Georgia.
“As we get closer to the event, we'll get a better idea of how things are coming together,” she said. “We're getting new data every couple of hours.”
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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