Gradually drying out overnight as the rain leaves and cold air moves in, a few flakes may be seen as far South as a Newnan to Hampton to Monticello Eatonton line tonight but little or no accumulation expected outside the Georgia mountains or Far NE suburban counties.
Anything that occurs will not last or matter and comes to an end by 6am followed by a clearing trend.
The window for a light shower or snow flurries 7pm-4am give or take a couple hours. NOT snow that whole time and not everywhere just hit and miss.
Temperatures fall near freezing or slightly below 4am-9am Friday give or take a couple hours especially North.
Patchy black ice possible mainly bridges and overpasses mainly in the mountains and Far North suburbs. Widespread ice is not expected as most roads dry out.
Lows by sunrise 27-32, back above freezing all areas after 9am.
Highs only in the 40s Friday afternoon followed by a hard freeze Friday night-Saturday morning with lows of 24-28, sunny Saturday high in the mid 50s and lows in the low 30s.
Looks like we stay dry Sunday with some clouds with rain returning late Sunday night and Monday.
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SOMETHING FASCINATING IF it happens...
A couple of our Hi-resolution models are hinting at "lake-effect snow" generated off of Lake Lanier later tonight or early Friday morning. Lake Effect is normally associated with the Great Lakes up North. IF this were to happen it would be a FIRST for me in over three decades of forecasting here.
I have serious doubts it happens! I don’t think the air will be cold enough to generate it off the lake.
But we could have some simply as a result of the backlash behind the North Carolina snowstorm as colder air overspreads our area and some left-over energy aloft squeezes out any residual moisture in the clouds before they clear away.
[ More details on lake-effect snow. ]
Some of the virtual reality FORECAST SIMULATED RADAR charts from those model equations:
Again those simulated radar forecasts are virtual reality not gospel valid late tonight-early Friday morning. DO NOT take them literally at face value.
For more follow me on Twitter @MellishMeterWSB.
NWS ATLANTA SPECIAL STATEMENT: