The Cobb County School District posted the following message on its Twitter feed shortly after 6 a.m. Friday:“All Cobb County schools open as normal today, Friday, December 8. Temps forecast to remain above freezing throughout the day with road temps a few degrees warmer.”
After-school programs also will operate on schedule but extracurricular activities are cancelled for Friday and Saturday.
Schools in Marietta and most of metro Atlanta also are open as the line for winter weather notifications issued by the National Weather Service is running northwest of Marietta and Cobb.
The National Weather Service has revised the areas to be included in a winter storm warning, and that includes Cobb, Paulding, Douglas and Cherokee counties.
Being in the storm area means that “periods of snow” are expected during the designated warning period, through 7 a.m. Saturday.
A social media message issued by Cobb government around 6:30 a.m. Friday said that the Cobb Emergency Management Agency and Cobb DOT are “watching situation carefully” but offered no other information.
A number of school districts in north Georgia have cancelled classes due to freezing rain and snow, but they are well north of metro Atlanta.
Early Friday morning the precipitation in most of metro Atlanta was rain, with temperatures just above freezing. The highs in the area for Friday, including Cobb, are forecast to be in the high 30s, with freezing temperatures expected by Friday evening.
Cobb DOT reported early Friday morning, also around 6 a.m., that most road temperatures in the county along the Interstate 75 corridor were above freezing.
UPDATED, 7:12 a.m.: Shortly after 7, Cobb schools tweeted this information:
“We will continue to monitor conditions and confer with forecasters and public safety officials throughout the day. We will continue to keep you informed via our website.”
Cobb County was included in a winter storm warning issued by the National Weather Service shortly before 6 a.m. Friday.
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The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for most of north Georgia and metro Atlanta, including Cobb County, starting early Friday morning.
The advisory, which was issued around 3 p.m. Thursday, lasts from 5 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday and includes the possibility of between a half-inch to an inch of snow or rain mixed with snow throughout the advisory area.
What’s expected to start out as rain could become rain mixed with snow or sleet in the pre-dawn and morning commuting hours of Friday.
“You can pretreat with the brine up to 48 hours ahead of the storm,” said Bill Shelton, Cobb DOT’s Road Maintenance Director, in a statement issued by Cobb County government. “The cost to do the whole county, every bridge and overpass, is probably $100 worth of salt. It is worth it to be proactive and keep our roads safe for the traveling public.”
The NWS advisory area runs north of a line from LaGrange to Jonesboro to Lawrenceville to Hiawassee.
The likelihood of rain or snow will be strongest after 5 a.m. Friday, according to the weather advisory. Temperatures in the Cobb area are expected to be in the high 30s, and the chance of precipitation is 90 percent.
As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the Cobb County School District had not announced whether school activities will take place on Friday.
UPDATE: Here’s what the CCSD posted on its Twitter account around 10:40 p.m. Thursday:
“@CobbSchools has been monitoring and discussions with meteorologists throughout the day and evening. As of 10:30 pm Thursday schools are open Friday 12/8. We’ll be up at 3:30 am to check roads and forecasts to make an announcement, if anything changes.”
More rain and snow are likely before late Friday night, with lows dropping into the high 20s. The chance of precipitation is 60 percent Friday night.
On Saturday, temperatures are forecast to be in the 40s, with partly sunny skies as the winter weather clears the metro Atlanta area. The low Saturday is expected in the mid 20s, and Sunday’s high is expected to be in the low 40s.
Cobb officials said that as of late Thursday afternoon there were no road closures in the county.
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In Whitaker Park, off Scufflegrit Road, dog-walkers and others enjoyed a sunny but crisp mid-November afternoon. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
Sunday’s sunny, but brisk conditions, and very cold evenings offered a prelude for Thanksgiving week weather in East Cobb.
Skies will be generally sunny throughout the week (with the exception of Tuesday, with rain in the forecast most of the day), and temperatures in the high 50s and near 60.
At night, temperatures won’t get quite as low as the freezing conditions from overnight Sunday, mostly dipping into the 40s and in the high 30s for most of the week.
Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, is expected to be mostly sunny, with highs in the high 50s and lows in high 30s.
Post-Thanksgiving weather will be similar, with highs Saturday and Sunday in the low 60s. Sunday night is when the temperatures hover back below freezing, with lows around 30.
Next week, daytime highs for most of the week will be in the low-to-mid-50s and lows around freezing several days.
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Westbound on Roswell Road, near East Lake Shopping Center. )East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
Rainy weather, including some late-afternoon rain showers, ushered out Daylight Savings Time in East Cobb on Saturday.
The change to Eastern Standard Time, which went into effect at 2 a.m. Sunday, provided an extra hour. But that also means it’s going to get darker earlier.
Temperatures will remain summery for the rest of the weekend and into early this week. Rainy and overcast weather will continue for most of the week, with highs in the mid-to-late 70s through Wednesday.
Temperatures will drop by Wednesday, with highs only in the mid-60s and into the mid-50s on Thursday. Lows will fall to the mid-to-high-50s by the end of the week, with partly sunny weather in the mid-60s by next weekend.
Crews work on a power line on Little Willeo Road near Johnson Ferry Road Tuesday afternoon. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
As work crews repaired power lines and cleared tree and other debris from roads Tuesday, East Cobb started to return to normal after riding out Tropical Storm Irma. Although partly cloudy skies and some rain are expected Wednesday, by the end of the week East Cobb weather will pick up where it left off before Monday’s storm.
Cobb County was spared the worst of the powerful storm’s damage that has crippled much of Georgia and other parts of metro Atlanta.
Cobb EMC reported no power outages as of late Tuesday afternoon, while several hundred Cobb customers of Georgia Power, mostly in South Cobb, were still without electricity.
Cobb officials said fewer than 100 trees were reported down throughout the county, and no major roads or streets were closed as a result of that or other damage.
An AT & T service truck flashing caution lights to passing motorists on Little Willeo Road on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
The Cobb County School District is the only major school system to return to classes Wednesday (East Cobb News post here), as sizable areas of metro Atlanta remain without power and have road hazards.
There are still plenty of minor branches and light debris scattered about East Cobb. In addition to electric crews, trucks from AT & T, Comcast and other utility companies were repairing lines, cables and other connection points that experienced lost service.
Irma carried sustained winds of more than 30 mph in many places around metro Atlanta, and gusts in some cases exceeding 50 mph, but those winds never got as strong in Cobb.
In nearby Sandy Springs, wind damage knocked down trees along many major roads, and a falling tree killed a man sleeping in his home. Motorists were advised not to travel to Sandy Springs from East Cobb via those affected areas (East Cobb News post here).
As Cobb students return to classes and business fully open on Wednesday, the rain will gradually dissipate and warmer temperatures will return. A 30 percent chance of showers is forecast for East Cobb, mainly in the afternoon, along with partly sunny skies. The high temperature should be around 75 (here’s the 7-day local forecast by the National Weather Service).
Thursday also is expected to be party sunny, with a high near 79, and Friday will be mostly sunny with temperatures in the low 80s.
A northbound view of Johnson Ferry Road at Princeton Lakes Drive, at 11 a.m. Tuesday. (Georgia 511 photo)
Cobb County got plenty of rain and high winds and power outages on Monday as Tropical Storm Irma engulfed metro Atlanta and Georgia, but it could have been a lot worse.
Cobb schools and government remain closed today as the cleanup continues following the passage of the large storm, which has been downgraded to a tropical depression.
Two people died in metro Atlanta and more than 1.5 million customers in Georgia lost power during Irma, whose arrival prompted a statewide declaration of a state of emergency.
Some motorists are out on the roads and some businesses are open today, but local and state officials are warning of downed trees and power lines, debris and standing water.
Compared to other communities in metro Atlanta, Cobb dodged the worst of Irma. As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, Georgia Power reported around 50 power outages in the county remaining (after several thousand initially), compared to several hundred in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton (here’s more).
In this Georgia Power outage map as of 11 a.m. Tuesday, the red colors indicate power outages between 5k-15k, orange 500-5k and green under 500.
Cobb EMC reported late Monday evening that fewer than 200 customers were without power, but hasn’t updated that figure this morning.
Many of the dozens of roads in Atlanta, Fulton County, DeKalb and elsewhere that closed Monday still hadn’t reopened as of late Tuesday morning. Cobb DOT as yet hasn’t identified any road closures but all major East Cobb thoroughfares are open; we’ll be getting out soon to take a look around.
Also hard-hit in Monday’s storm was Sandy Springs, adjacent to East Cobb, where a man died when a tree fell on his house while he was sleeping.
Several major roads in Sandy Springs remain closed this morning, and Cobb officials urged motorists who may be headed there to seek alternative routes.
Trees were reported down on Johnson Ferry Road in Sandy Springs, not far from the Chattahoochee River and the border with East Cobb. Here’s the advisory sent out by Cobb government this morning:
“The City of Sandy Springs is asking all motorists to stay off the roads on Tuesday. Georgia Power is not able to begin repairs on any down power lines until Tuesday morning.
“Sandy Springs has more than 30 roads impacted by down power lines. Of those, ten roads are major connections for residents throughout the metro area as part of their daily commute including: Spalding Drive, Riverside Drive, Johnson Ferry Road, Powers Ferry Road, Lake Forrest, Northside Drive, High Point Road and Glenridge Road.
“There is no timeline on when to expect roads to reopen. The City has closed its offices on Tuesday and encourages other businesses within the city to do the same.”
And as we noted here yesterday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for today, including the final public hearing and adoption of the fiscal year 2018 budget and passage of the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan has been postponed to Sept. 22.
How did you fare during the storm? Let us know! Send your news, including photos if you have them, to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
We’ll post another update later today after we take a drive around the community.
The intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Roswell Road, one of East Cobb’s busiest, shortly after 10 a.m. Monday. (Georgia 511 camera photos)
The typical morning rush hour was anything but on Monday, as East Cobb motorists heeded the warnings of Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and other officials to stay off the roads as Tropical Storm Irma pushed into metro Atlanta.
With schools and government offices closed (previous East Cobb News coverage here), as well as a growing number of businesses, what normally would be traffic bottlenecks around East Cobb took on the appearance of lonely stretches of backwater roads.
For most of Monday morning, moderate to heavy rain from Irma engulfed the entire state of Georgia, although the center of the storm was passing through central Alabama.
(At 10:40 a.m. Monday, Cobb County government announced all offices and services, including courts and libraries, would be closed on Tuesday.)
The rain began overnight, along with winds around 15-20 mph, but they were expected to pick up substantially into Monday afternoon. Up to 5-7 inches of rain are being forecast by the National Weather Service throughout the metro area into Monday evening, and sustained winds of 35-40 mph and gusts possibly surpassing 60 mph.
Because of the low temperatures—in the mid-to-high 50s late Monday morning—the likelihood of tornado weather has been drastically reduced.
Powers Ferry Road at Windy Hill Road.
Deal declared a statewide state of emergency on Sunday afternoon, and tropical storm warnings issued by the National Weather Service on Saturday were to continue indefinitely.
Cobb, metro Atlanta and most of Georgia also remain under a flash flood watch until early Tuesday. The potential wind damage to trees and power lines, as well as debris and glass falling from buildings, has prompted some rare actions. MARTA bus and rail service has been suspended for Monday. As of 11 a.m. Monday the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport remains open, although hundreds of flights have already been cancelled.
Roswell Road at the 120 Loop.
After tearing through Florida on Sunday, Hurricane Irma entered south Georgia Sunday night as a Category 2 storm, and was expected to be downgraded to Category 1 and tropical storm status as it traveled north.
But the power of the storm has caused plenty of serious damage to Georgia already. State emergency officials and law enforcement agencies have been reporting big trees and power lines being down in roadways, and damage from buildings and other debris endangering motorists, pedestrians and emergency crews.
By mid-morning Monday, those reports included locations in the metro Atlanta area.
Hundreds of thousands of Georgians are already without electricity, and those numbers figure to skyrocket as the effects of Irma move through the state and into Alabama and western Tennessee by Monday evening.
Georgia citizens are being urged to stay where they are for the remainder of Monday. However, Georgia DOT is advising that “if you are out and about and come to a traffic light out—treat as four way stop.”
Terrell Mill Road at Paper Mill Road.
Cobb residents are being urged to acquaint themselves with safety information provided by the Cobb Emergency Management Agency. The basics include having flashlights, batteries, fully-charged cell phones, mobile devices and portable radios ready, along with procedures for moving to a safer part of a home or other building if necessary.
To prevent against being injured by falling trees, broken glass or other debris from high winds, move to a room without windows.
If you lose power, know the emergency phone number and procedures for contacting for your service provider.
Georgia Power is asking customers to report outages at its outage information link. (At 11:30 a.m., Georgia Power reported that about 330,000 customers statewide were without power, including around 85,000 in metro Atlanta, numbers that were “growing fast.”)
If you are a Cobb EMC member, report outages on its free app or call. 770-429-2100. Do not report outages to its social media channels.
National Weather Service projection as of 11 a.m. Sunday.
It may not seem like it today, but East Cobb, metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia are about to get major tropical storm weather.
On Sunday it’s been beautiful, with sunny skies and temperatures rising to the low 70s, and humidity levels around 40 percent. But those conditions will change dramatically on Monday.
Late Saturday night, the National Weather Service in Peachtree City issued a tropical storm warning for the metro Atlanta area that is expected to last until early Tuesday.
The NWS is forecasting heavy rains and high winds as what’s left of Hurricane Irma pushes into Georgia, after the powerful Category 4 storm made landfall in south Florida Sunday morning.
Shortly before 1 p.m. on Sunday, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for the entire state, and said state government offices will be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Many local governments and school districts quickly followed suit.
Tropical storm conditions are expected all day Monday in Cobb and metro Atlanta, with between 1-2 inches of rain possible (and likely more), as well as winds possibly gusting to 55 mph and even higher.
The possibility of flash flooding is also in the forecast, and already some metro Atlanta school districts and colleges, including Kennesaw State University, have cancelled all classes and activities. A flash flood watch is in effect for Cobb until 8 a.m. Tuesday.
UPDATED: Cobb County School District officials announced at 1:40 p.m. Sunday that there will be no school on Monday or Tuesday; all other activities also will be cancelled on those days and the school system’s main offices will be closed as well.
UPDATED, 7 PM SUNDAY: Cobb County government offices will be closed on Monday. Libraries also will be closed, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners work session scheduled for Monday has been cancelled.
In a Facebook message to Cobb school parents Saturday night, deputy superintendent John Adams said the district was considering possible power outage concerns as well as rain and wind conditions affecting travel.
National Weather Service rainfall and windspeed estimate maps as of 1 p.m. Sunday.
“We are also interested to see if the Governor expands the State of Emergency to include metro Atlanta. Rest assured that we will always err on the side of student safety and will seek to make a decision about school on Monday as soon as reasonably possible.”
On Friday, the CCSD issued a message urging parents to visit its website homepage for updates, and to refer to the school system’s inclement weather page for details.
Already some brisk winds are whipping up in the East Cobb area. By early Sunday afternoon, the winds were reported at around 15 mph, and they’re expected to get even stronger as tropical storm-like weather approaches north Georgia.
The rain in metro Atlanta is expected to arrive overnight, with thunderstorms most likely after 7 a.m. Temperatures are expected to be only in the mid 60s, but the chance of precipitation is 100 percent.
On Monday night, tropical storm conditions are expected to continue, with more showers and the possibility of thunderstorms. The low temperature is expected to drop to 60.
On early Tuesday morning, as the tropical storm warning is projected to end, more showers are in the forecast, with highs in the high 60s. Winds between 15-20 mph could gust to 30 mph, and the chance of rain is 80 percent.
Over the weekend, Cobb County government urged residents to take safety measures and provided a page with emergency links and other related information.
The pond at Hyde Farm. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
Labor Day has come and gone, and with it perhaps the worst of the summer heat. Although Labor Day in East Cobb was hot—temperatures ranged in the high 80s, and if you were at the Holy Smoke Festival yesterday as were (photos here), sitting out in the sun wasn’t a good idea for too long of a spell. An Indian Summer in East Cobb? We’ll take it.
Yet the forecast for this week in East Cobb and metro Atlanta calls for moderate temperatures—only surpassing the 80-degree mark a couple of times—and even milder humidity levels.
In fact, today, Tuesday, figures to be the hottest and most humid day of the week, with temperatures in the low 80s and humidity around 60 percent.
After that, high temperatures should stay in the 70s, for the most part, and the mugginess also is expected to decrease. Low temperatures will drop into the 50s at night, and sunny skies are forecast through the weekend.
By the way, if you ever want a quick check of the current weather conditions, and a glimpse of what to expect over the next few days, check out the weather widget on the top left rail on East Cobb News.
It gives you the temperature, humidity and wind levels, and a mini-five-day forecast. Keep in mind that those long-term temperature forecasts are always subject to change.
Have a great week East Cobb, and enjoy what’s shaping up to be some fantastic weather!
“All Cobb County schools open as normal today, Friday, December 8. Temps forecast to remain above freezing throughout the day with road temps a few degrees warmer.”
