Frigid Arctic air headed to metro Atlanta. But will it snow?

Rosana Hughes, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Jan 17, 2025

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ATLANTA — Enjoy the next couple of days, because temperatures across metro Atlanta will plunge into the teens starting Sunday night.

What everyone wants to know, though, is whether the region will get another round of snow next week.

The quick answer? As of the latest forecast Friday, it’s not looking very favorable for snow closer to the city. But there is still a chance, and it’s still too early to know for sure.

So far, forecasts are predicting extra cold air ― even colder than last week and drier ― to filter in from Siberia. That air mass will slide southward across the Rocky Mountains before reaching the metro area late Sunday and early Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Tens of thousands of visitors will be in the city Monday for the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Martin Luther King Jr. Day events.

Those headed to the 7:30 p.m. title game between Ohio State and Notre Dame should bundle up against the cold and be aware that wintry weather could make travel more challenging later in the week.

Breezy conditions will bring “feels-like” temperatures down to at or below zero for areas north of I-20, the Weather Service warns. In fact, those locations may not see air temps rise above freezing until Wednesday.

If we get any snow, it’ll be Tuesday into Wednesday when a storm is expected to develop over the Gulf Coast and blow northward, where it’ll clash with that frigid air. But forecast models cannot agree on how far north the moisture from that system will go.

While the potential scenario for this system is similar to what we saw with recent snowstorm, “there’s not a ton of moisture with this (one),” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Jennifer Lopez said, making it “nothing like last week’s storm.”

That system brought up to 3½ inches of snow to some parts of the metro area last weekend. It was the most widespread snow the region has seen since January 2018.

This time around, what is certain is that it’s “going to be cold, and that’s the bigger story,” Lopez said.

The most optimistic predictions are calling for a 30% chance of some type of wintry precipitation, Lopez said. It is far too early to even try to predict any potential totals.

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