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Headlights are on vehicles leaving East Cobb Park around 5:30 p.m. Sunday as an early dusk approaches on the first day of Eastern Standard Time.
Warm temperatures will remain at the start of the week, with highs in the 80s Monday and Tuesday.
Fall-like weather is in the forecast by the end of the week.
For the last couple of weeks it’s been hard to find some shade from temperatures in the high 90s and heat advisory and air quality warnings. For this week in the Cobb area, there will be some relief, but not much.
Daytime temperatures in the 80s are expected to be the norm, along with the chance of thunderstorms all week.
The chances are on the low side, 30 to 40 percent through Wednesday, and then increasing to 50 percent by Wednesday and staying that way through the weekend.
With the threat of rain comes higher humidity as well—it’s around 70 percent already on Monday morning—so brace yourselves for that, as well as keep an umbrella handy.
Monday’s high is expected to be in the mid 90s, the highest it’s slated to be all week.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for portions of central and north Georgia, including Cobb County, for Monday, with scattered to numerous thunderstorms in the forecast that could include gusty winds, lighting and local heavy rainfall.
Heat index values could reach between 100 and 105 degrees in some of those areas by Monday afternoon.
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From a winter weather advisory one day to mid-60-degree temperatures the next? That’s how this week started out in East Cobb and around metro Atlanta.
The warming trend is expected to continue through the rest of the week, with highs edging into the low 60s through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
But chilly weather will be back for the weekend, with highs Saturday and Sunday expected to be only in the high 30s.
Lows will dip into the 20s on those nights, and for next week, temperatures are not forecast to get higher than the low 40s. Low temperatures below freezing are also expected.
By next weekend, it may start to get warmer, into the 50s.
But it’s still winter, which means it can often feel a little like spring, fall and winter, sometimes in the span of one week.
The Cobb County School District announced right around 10 a.m. Friday that it will be releasing classes early today and cancelling all weekend activities, due to winter weather conditions.
The early release schedule is as follows:
In addition, all after-school programs are cancelled on Friday, as are extracurricular events scheduled for Friday and Saturday.
Those activities include ACT test sites at Cobb schools, which will be rescheduled.
Not long before Cobb announced early release times, Paulding County schools also announced they would be releasing early. Marietta, Bartow County, Douglas County and Cherokee County schools also were releasing students early.
Here’s what we have thus far for private school closings in East Cobb:
All Cobb County government facilities are closing at noon today, including all public library branches.
The 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.
A few church-related items to share:
Cobb schools began as scheduled on Friday, although Cobb was placed in a winter storm warning area around 6 a.m. by the National Weather Service.
However, by mid-morning, what had been rain was turning into snow or snow mixed with rain, including some areas in East Cobb. Here’s a view of the football field at Lassiter High School, posted on the school’s Twitter feed:
Beautiful morning!!! pic.twitter.com/BTi7yOJLd8
— Lassiter Renaissance (@lassiterherenow) December 8, 2017
Temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are expected to reach only into the high 30s on Friday, with freezing temperatures forecast for the evening and into overnight. Accumulated snowfall is expected to be less than in inch in most of Cobb, but more in northern and western parts of the county.
The winter storm advisory, which includes Cobb, Paulding, Douglas, Cherokee and Bartow in metro Atlanta and most of mountainous north Georgia, where 1-2 inches of snow has been forecast.
Winter weather has stretched across unexpected areas of the South, with snow falling in San Antonio and parts of Texas, before that storm front headed toward Georgia.
Temperatures aren’t expected to get much warmer in metro Atlanta over the weekend, with Saturday and Sunday highs in the low 40s. There is a 30 percent chance of snow on Saturday, with lows in the low 20s, but the sun also is expected to come out.
Sunday’s high will be around 40, with clear skies. Lows are expected in the low 20s.
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.
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.
By the weekend, with the East Cobber Parade & Festival on Saturday and the East Cobb Garden Tour and a Sunday Funday event at East Cobb Park on Sunday, mostly sunny skies are forecast and temperatures will be in the mid-80s.
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).
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.
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!
