Cobb schools closed Wednesday; county included in state of emergency; updated closures/cancellations/delayed openings

NWS Snowfall Map

Updated Wednesday story, 12 p.m.

UPDATED, 8:35 P.M. and 10:55 P.M. Tuesday

Shortly before 8:30 tonight, the Cobb County School District announced that Cobb schools will be closed on Wednesday, for students and staff, “due to road and travel conditions.”

Gov. Nathan Deal has declared a state of emergency for 83 counties in Georgia, including Cobb, and non-essential state government offices will be closed Wednesday.

Cobb DOT crews are working in 12-hour shifts, starting at 5 p.m. today, and switching to fresh crews at 5 a.m. Wednesday, to treat major roads with a salt and gravel mix as between a half-inch to an inch of snow is forecast to fall on Cobb, and turn to ice as temperatures reached freezing.

Cobb County government is on a delayed opening Wednesday until 10 a.m., including libraries.

With the wind chill, temperatures in the morning could feel as cold as several degrees below zero. A winter weather advisory is in effect for Cobb and most of north Georgia until 10 a.m. Wednesday and a wind chill advisory is in effect until 7 a.m.

CobbLinc will delay the start of all bus services until 10 a.m.

Snowfall began falling in East Cobb a little after 7 tonight, as temperatures fell to around the freezing mark.

The Walker School also is closed on Wednesday, as are Mt. Bethel Christian Academy, the Wood Acres School, Gracepoint School and Faith Lutheran School.

All campuses of Kennesaw State University are closed on Wednesday, but dining services will continue. All campuses of Chattahoochee Tech also will be closed Wednesday.

The Eastside Christian School open house scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed a week to Jan 24 at 9:30 a.m. All classes are cancelled Wednesday.

The St. Catherine’s Episcopal preschool is closed Wednesday, as is the St. Ann Catholic preschool.

At Transfiguration Catholic Church, preschool, PREP classes and Adult Education classes are cancelled Wednesday, and perpetual adoration will be closed until noon.

The Northeast Cobb Business Association luncheon Wednesday has been cancelled.

The East Cobb YMCA and Northeast Cobb YMCA are delaying opening until 10 a.m.

Olde Towne Athletic Club is opening at noon Wednesday.

More updates will posted here as they become available.

ORIGINAL REPORT, posted 4:55 p.m.: 

With public and private schools already having cancelled Tuesday evening events, here’s the latest Cobb winter storm update. We’ll keep posting additional information as we have it, including any news about Cobb schools for Wednesday.

The Cobb County School District has been saying this afternoon that “a decision about school for Wednesday will be made either late tonight or early tomorrow morning.”

Send your news about cancellations/postponements to: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll add it here.

Weather Conditions

From the National Weather Service, precipitation is expected to come through a line from Carrollton to Canton and into northeastern Georgia around 6 p.m. tonight (as shown in map above), and as temperatures plunge dramatically.

Temperatures were in the high 40s in the East Cobb area around 4:30 p.m., but dropping temperatures, along with the wind chill, could make it feel a few degrees below zero overnight and into early Wednesday morning.

Closings/cancellations/postponements

  • Cobb County government, including libraries, is closing at 6 tonight, and programs and events scheduled for tonight are cancelled or rescheduled. All government offices, agencies and facilities are slated to open on a delayed basis on Wednesday at 10 a.m.;
  • The East Cobb and Northeast Cobb YMCA branches are cancelling all after school activities, as well as paid programming. The branches plan to stay open until 7:30;
  • Transfiguration Catholic Church is cancelling all evening parish activities and meetings, PREP classes and adult ed classes, and Perpetual Adoration is closed from 6 tonight to noon Wednesday. Tonight’s 7 p.m.  Mass will be held “as long as the weather holds up,” according to a social media post from around 1 p.m.;
  • St. Ann Catholic has cancelled Wednesday Mass services at 6:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.;
  • The Walker School is cancelling all after school-activities, including practices and games;
  • The Wood Acres After School Tree House is closing at 5 p.m.
  • After-school care at Mt. Bethel Christian Academy is closing at 5 p.m. and North campus athletics are cancelled;
  • All after-school activities at Eastside Christian Academy will conclude at 5:30, and pickup is required by that time. JV basketball games at Mt. Paran are cancelled;
  • All campuses of Kennesaw State University are closing at 5 p.m., and all night classes after that are cancelled;
  • The same goes for all campuses at Chattahoochee Tech, closing at 5 p.m.;
  • The Walton High School wrestling team’s picture day and senior night event scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed a week, to Jan. 24.

Cobb DOT/Roads

The Cobb DOT road maintenance division has been pretreating roads with brine this morning and is treating roads with salt and gravel mix on designated major routes this afternoon. Between a half-inch and an inch of snow is expected in Cobb. A total of 15 crews will be rolling out by 5 p.m., with another similar number of crews to follow at 5 a.m. Wednesday.

Emergency Information

The Cobb 911 office issued this information around 3 p.m. Tuesday:

Cobb County and much of North Georgia is preparing for the possibility of hazardous weather. Here are some numbers that you might need. Call these numbers instead of 911 if there is not an emergency. Call 911 if you need the fire department, an ambulance or the police. 911 is unable to give time frames on power outages.

Do Not Call 911 unless it is a life-threatening emergency. This would include someone who is utilizing life-sustaining equipment that requires electricity. 911 will not report your outage to any utility company.

Cobb EMC
770-429-2100
CobbEMC.com

Georgia Power
888-660-5890
GeorgiaPower.com

Marietta Power & Water (Marietta City)
770-794-5150
MariettaGA.gov/151/Power-Water

Cobb County Water System
770-423-1000
CobbCounty.org

Cobb County Police (non-emergency)
770-499-3911

 

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EAST COBB WEATHER CLOSINGS: Schools, government, roads, businesses, holiday events and more

East Cobb weather closings
The start of Friday’s snow in East Cobb, which got between 2-4 inches in two waves of storms. A winter storm warning is in effect for Cobb County, metro Atlanta and most of north Georgia until 10 a.m. Saturday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

UPDATED, 8 P.M. FRIDAY:

The National Weather Service has extended its winter storm warning that includes Cobb to 10 a.m. Saturday, as a second wave of snow and winter weather passed through metro Atlanta and north Georgia late Friday afternoon.

Cobb was expected to get between 2-4 inches of snow overall, but those amounts are likely to vary.

Roads in Cobb and elsewhere are becoming increasingly treacherous, as Cobb DOT, Georgia DOT and other crews work to brine roadways, bridges and overpasses overnight Friday. Temperatures have generally dropped below freezing in Cobb and Saturday’s high is expected to be only 40 degrees.

The chance of “black ice” is one of the major concerns, as well as the possibility of falling trees and reduced visibility on roads due to the unexpectedly heavy amounts of snow.

Cobb libraries will be closed on Saturday, after closing at noon on Friday along with other Cobb government offices and facilities.

The second blanket of snow came through metro Atlanta later Friday evening, behind early afternoon storms that prompted school, government, business and many other closures, and as commuters, buses and other vehicles created an early, messy rush hour.

Check the Georgia DOT 511 Navigator for updated conditions, including closures and accidents.

Georgia DOT is urging motorists to treat an intersection with traffic light outages as a four-way stop. They should also call 511 to report outages when they reach a safe destination.

Georgia Power and Cobb EMC were reporting scattered outages. As of 6:30 p.m., Cobb EMC reported that its outage reporting channels were down and they’re working to fix the problem.

Cobb EMC customers who have lost power can download an outage on the Cobb EMC app or call 770-429-2100. The web link still wasn’t working as of 7:30 p.m. but an link can be found here that will link to detailed outage information when it’s available online.

(At 9 p.m. Friday an East Cobb News reader called to say that the Cobb EMC power outage phone number was down, and had been down for about an hour.)

Most of the estimated 5,500 Cobb EMC customers without power as of 8 p.m. were in western and north Cobb, with outages also being reported in several parts of Northeast Cobb.

Georgia Power is asking its customers to consult its outage map but has indicated it is not able to estimate when power may restored to an affected area.

Some closings for Saturday to report are below. E-mail us at: editor@eastcobbnews.com with your news of closings, and any weather photos to share. We’ll keep updating as long as we’re in a pre-Christmas Winter Wonderland:

  • Holy Trinity Lutheran Church has postponed Saturday’s Breakfast With Santa until next Saturday, Dec. 16, at 9 a.m.;
  • All events/classes at Studio 348 for Women have been cancelled for Saturday;
  • East Cobb Pediatrics will be closed Saturday;
  • Club Pilates East Cobb is closed Saturday;
  • St. Andrew UMC is postponing its Christmas concert to 6:30 p.m. Sunday (updating information below in this post about a 2 p.m. start);
  • All parish activities at Transfiguration Catholic Church will be postponed until noon Saturday. The Saturday 9 a.m. Mass will be held if weather permits.

Original report, with some updates from earlier Friday afternoon:  

We’re keeping an updated tab on East Cobb weather closings for Friday, with the announcements earlier today of the early release of Cobb schools and the closing of Cobb government at noon.

Here’s what Cobb DOT sent out around 1:15 p.m. Friday:

“With conditions on Cobb County roadways deteriorating faster than expected, Cobb County Department of Transportation called in crews early and began treating trouble spots.  By 12:30 traffic slowed to a crawl on many of the county’s roadways and crews manned trucks with salt to head out to the worse areas.

“DOT’s Road Maintenance Division planned on running full shifts until 2 pm Saturday, concerning falling temperatures could cause icing.  Some crews concentrated at areas around schools where Cobb’s Elementary Schools, the last to dismiss early, would send buses out at 1:30 pm.

“The division’s full complement of trucks, 15 vehicles in all, will run predetermined routes treating much of the county’s 2500 miles of roadways, including state highways.

“Traffic maps at cobbcommute.org showed many of the county’s thoroughfares either running very slow or at a standstill. Officials urged people not already on the roads to avoid going out until the system moves away.”

Temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are staying around freezing all day, and will be plummeting below that by Friday evening.

Information about closings is coming via e-mail, social media posts and other sources. If you know of closings (schools, businesses, churches, organizations, etc.), and especially planned activities, please let us know and we’ll share it with the community. E-mail news, photos, etc. to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.

Related coverage:

Cobb schools are on early release, with the last phase elementary school students at 1:30 p.m. There will be NO extracurricular activities, including the ACT testing, which will be rescheduled

Most private schools in East Cobb are either under an early release or have closed.

Cobb government closed at 12 p.m., including libraries, which will be monitoring road conditions to determine whether to open on Saturday.

The Cobb government closures also include The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), and tonight’s Center Stage North performance of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” has been cancelled.

East Cobb weather closings
Roswell Road at WellStar East Cobb Health Park, shortly after 12 p.m. Friday (From Georgia 511 camera)

Send us your photos and news!

  • Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them! If you know of school, church, business or other closings or cancellations too! E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.

Here are the latest updates about openings/closings for local businesses, organizations, churches (especially for holiday events):

  • The Piedmont Church’s Christmas at Piedmont festival scheduled for 5-9 Friday has been cancelled; updates about Saturday’s 10-5 session will be posted on its Instagram account;
  • Mt. Zion United Methodist Church has postponed its Breakfast With Santa, which was to have been from 8:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m. Saturday;
  • All Fidelity bank branches were closing around noon Friday;
  • The Lockheed-Georgia Credit Union also closed Friday around noon;
  • Tonight’s Christmas concert at St. Andrew United Methodist Church (3455 Canton Road) is being postponed until Sunday at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow;
  • Friday’s Bethlehem Walk from 7-9 at Mountain View United Methodist Church is cancelled; the final session of the holiday event is still on for the same time on Saturday;
  • At The Avenue East Cobb, carriage rides from 4-7 have been cancelled, but Santa Claus will be in the Santa Suite next to J. Jill for visitors and photos during that time;
  • The Carols for Christmas program Friday at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church has been cancelled. In its place will be a service at 6 p.m. Sunday
  • East Cobb Pediatrics closed at 1 p.m. Friday;
  • All J. Christopher’s locations closed before the normal 2 p.m. closing time;
  • Olde Towne Athletic Club has closed and will delay Saturday opening until 12 p.m.;
  • Chicago’s Steak & Seafood is closed Friday;
  • Seed, Stem Wine Bar and Drift are closed Friday;
  • The British Swim School of North Atlanta is cancelling Friday lessons and offering free makeup lessons;
  • Book Exchange is closing early Friday, but an author open house is still scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday;
  • Righteous Que is closing at 3 p.m. and is not accepting any more phone orders Friday;
  • Johnson Ferry Baptist Church offices have closed for Friday, and all Friday activities are cancelled. As of 2 p.m. Friday, the Christmas Festival services at 4 and 7 Saturday and regular Sunday worship services are still scheduled;
  • Big Peach Running Co. closed at 2 p.m. Friday and will update Saturday opening based on weather conditions;
  • WellStar Medical Group offices closed by 2 p.m. Friday. All WellStar Urgent Care locations were closing at 3 p.m. and are scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Saturday;
  • All CobbLinc public transit services will be suspended at 8 p.m. Friday and will open Saturday, with service times TBA.

Cobb DOT is urging motorists not to get on the roads if they don’t have to. Conditions are deterioarating and crews will be working to treat the roads as the day continues. To monitor the latest conditions visit the Cobb Commute site.

East Cobb weather closings
Sandy Plains Road at East Piedmont Road, also around 12 p.m. Friday (Georgia 511 camera)

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