Winter Storms Expected To Hit Georgia; Snow, Wind Advisories

The National Weather Service has issued a weather advisory for the state of Georgia, predicting high winds for several metro Atlanta counties starting late Saturday afternoon.

The warning will start at midnight and will remain in effect until noon Sunday to include nearly 40 counties in northwest Georgia, including Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Cherokee, Douglas, Forsyth, and Polk counties.

Georgians in those areas expect to see sustained winds between 20 and 30 mph and gusts up to 50 mp. There is a possibility of higher gusts of 60 mph, the National Weather Service forecast.

Winds that strong can blow down power lines and trees. There is a change of power outages.

The winter weather advisory is for Atlanta and several metro counties along the I-20 and I-75 corridors.

The National Weather Service expanded its advisory map to include Fulton, Cobb, Douglas, Paulding, Bartow, Polk, Haralson, and Floyd counties. Those counties located in northwest Georgia will have “minor” impacts from the winter storms.

According to the NWS advisory, they could see up to 2 inches of snow and ice accumulations of up to two-tenths of an inch. Those who must drive should with caution since there is the chance of slippery road conditions.

Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency for 91 counties. The emergency declaration goes into effect at 11:59 Saturday night and gives Kemp clearance to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops for storm response.