The National Weather Service forecasts showers and thunderstorms here in Cobb County on Sunday, March 12, 2023, with a high near 54 degrees.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to strong thunderstorms expected this morning into the evening. The outlook also warns of the possibility of “Damaging winds, large hail, isolated tornadoes, periods of heavy rain, and frequent lightning …”
What does the extended forecast have in store?
This forecast is centered on Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.
Sunday
Showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 1 p.m. High near 54. East wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday Night
A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.
Monday
Mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Monday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Tuesday
Sunny, with a high near 50.
Tuesday Night
Mostly clear, with a low around 27.
Wednesday
Sunny, with a high near 59.
Wednesday Night
Areas of frost after 2 a.m. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 33.
Thursday
Areas of frost before 8 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 68.
Thursday Night
A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 46.
Friday
Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.
Friday Night
A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 41.
Saturday
A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 58.
What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?
The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with November figures.
In an article entitled What is the Difference between Climate and Weather?, the National Ocean Service describes the difference as follows:
“Weather is what you see outside on any particular day. So, for example, it may be 75° degrees and sunny or it could be 20° degrees with heavy snow. That’s the weather.
“Climate is the average of that weather. For example, you can expect snow in the Northeast in January or for it to be hot and humid in the Southeast in July. This is climate. The climate record also includes extreme values such as record high temperatures or record amounts of rainfall. If you’ve ever heard your local weather person say “today we hit a record high for this day,” she is talking about climate records.
“So when we are talking about climate change, we are talking about changes in long-term averages of daily weather. In most places, weather can change from minute-to-minute, hour-to-hour, day-to-day, and season-to-season. Climate, however, is the average of weather over time and space.”
The climate report for the Atlanta area for the previous month shows how much departure from the average temperatures that month represents. The average temperature for a date is the average over a 30-year period.
| Date | Max | Min | AVG | Departure from norm | Precipitation |
| 2022-11-01 | 74 | 54 | 64.0 | 5.3 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-02 | 76 | 57 | 66.5 | 8.2 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-03 | 75 | 57 | 66.0 | 8.0 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-04 | 76 | 54 | 65.0 | 7.4 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-05 | 79 | 62 | 70.5 | 13.2 | T |
| 2022-11-06 | 83 | 68 | 75.5 | 18.6 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-07 | 83 | 68 | 75.5 | 18.9 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-08 | 80 | 62 | 71.0 | 14.7 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-09 | 69 | 51 | 60.0 | 4.0 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-10 | 68 | 59 | 63.5 | 7.9 | 0.13 |
| 2022-11-11 | 71 | 64 | 67.5 | 12.2 | 0.97 |
| 2022-11-12 | 70 | 42 | 56.0 | 1.0 | T |
| 2022-11-13 | 48 | 33 | 40.5 | -14.2 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-14 | 55 | 33 | 44.0 | -10.4 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-15 | 49 | 45 | 47.0 | -7.1 | 0.38 |
| 2022-11-16 | 49 | 39 | 44.0 | -9.8 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-17 | 47 | 33 | 40.0 | -13.5 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-18 | 54 | 30 | 42.0 | -11.3 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-19 | 53 | 33 | 43.0 | -10.0 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-20 | 47 | 34 | 40.5 | -12.2 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-21 | 58 | 31 | 44.5 | -8.0 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-22 | 64 | 44 | 54.0 | 1.8 | T |
| 2022-11-23 | 71 | 43 | 57.0 | 5.1 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-24 | 63 | 52 | 57.5 | 5.8 | T |
| 2022-11-25 | 66 | 51 | 58.5 | 7.1 | 0.25 |
| 2022-11-26 | 66 | 49 | 57.5 | 6.3 | 0.11 |
| 2022-11-27 | 67 | 53 | 60.0 | 9.1 | 0.54 |
| 2022-11-28 | 65 | 48 | 56.5 | 5.8 | 0.00 |
| 2022-11-29 | 69 | 44 | 56.5 | 6.0 | 0.51 |
| 2022-11-30 | 69 | 41 | 55.0 | 4.7 | 1.34 |
| Sum | 1964 | 1434 | – | – | 4.23 |
| Average | 65.5 | 47.8 | 56.6 | 2.4 | – |
| Normal | 64.1 | 44.2 | 54.2 | – | 3.98 |
| Autumn 2022 Temperature Climate Statistics | |||
| Climate Site | Average Temperature (deg) | Normal Temperature (deg) | DFN (Departure From Normal) |
| Athens | 64.7 | 63.4 | +1.3 |
| Atlanta | 64.7 | 63.6 | +1.1 |
| Columbus | 66.2 | 66.8 | -0.6 |
| Macon | 65.4 | 65.3 | +0.1 |
| Cartersville | 62.0 | 61.1 | +0.9 |
| Dekalb Peachtree Arpt | 62.8 | 62.5 | +0.3 |
| Fulton County Arpt | 62.8 | 62.8 | 0.0 |
| Gainesville | 62.5 | 62.0 | +0.5 |
| Peachtree City | 63.7 | 62.1 | +1.6 |
| Rome | 63.2 | 61.3 | +1.9 |
| Autumn 2022 Average Temperature Ranking & Records | |||
| Climate Site | Avg Temp Rank | Highest Avg Temp Record (deg) (year) | Lowest Avg Temp Record (deg) (year) |
| Athens | 39th Warmest | 67.4 (2016) | 58.4 (1976) |
| Atlanta | 20th Warmest | 69.1 (2016) | 56.7 (1976) |
| Columbus | 32nd Warmest | 70.4 (1985) | 60.9 (1976) |
| Macon | 36th Warmest | 69.4 (1985) | 60.3 (1967) |
| Autumn 2022 Temperature Climate Statistics | ||||
| Climate Site | Maximum Temperature (deg) | Max T Date | Minimum Temperature (deg) | Min T Date |
| Athens | 93 | 9/14 | 28 | 11/24 |
| Atlanta | 88 | 9/13 | 32 | 11/23 |
| Columbus | 92 | 9/7 | 30 | 11/30 |
| Macon | 93 | 9/7 | 27 | 11/24 |
| Cartersville | 88 | 9/14 | 27 | 11/30 |
| Dekalb Peachtree Arpt | 90 | 9/14 | 28 | 11/24 |
| Fulton Co Arpt | 90 | 9/14 | 27 | 11/24 |
| Gainesville | 88 | 9/13 | 29 | 11/23 |
| Peachtree City | 90 | 9/13 | 27 | 11/24 |
| Rome | 91 | 9/14 | 27 | 11/24, 27 |
| Autumn 2022 Average Temperature Climate Statistics | ||
| Climate Site | Average Maximum Temperature (deg) | Average Minimum Temperature (deg) |
| Athens | 74.7 | 51.2 |
| Atlanta | 74.3 | 54.8 |
| Columbus | 77.3 | 55.3 |
| Macon | 78.2 | 52.3 |
| Cartersville | 73.1 | 50.4 |
| Dekalb Peachtree Arpt | 72.4 | 49.5 |
| Fulton Co Arpt | 74.4 | 50.7 |
| Gainesville | 72.5 | 52.3 |
| Peachtree City | 75.6 | 50.9 |
| Rome | 74.9 | 49.5 |
| Average Maximum Temperature Ranking & Records | |||
| Climate Site | Avg Max Temp Rank | Highest Avg Max Temp Record (deg) (Year) | Lowest Avg Max Temp Record (deg) (Year) |
| Athens | 8th Warmest | 81.0 (2016) | 68.8 (1976) |
| Atlanta | 27th Warmest | 79.8 (2016) | 67.1 (1976) |
| Columbus | 32nd Warmest | 82.8 (2016) | 71.7 (1976) |
| Macon | 31st Warmest | 83.2 (2016) | 73.7 (1976) |
| Average Minimum Temperature Ranking & Records | |||
| Climate Site | Avg Min Temp Rank | Highest Avg Min Temp Record (deg) (Year) | Lowest Avg Min Temp Record (deg) (Year) |
| Athens | 49th Warmest | 57.1 (1985) | 46.9 (1967) |
| Atlanta | 23rd Warmest | 59.0 (1931) | 46.3 (1976) |
| Columbus | 35th Warmest | 60.9 (1985) | 49.9 (1967) |
| Macon | 50th Coldest | 59.3 (1985) | 46.0 (1967) |
| Autumn 2022 Precipitation Climate Statistics | |||
| Climate Site | Total Precipitation (in) | Normal Precipitation (in) | DFN (Departure From Normal) |
| Athens | 9.91 | 11.31 | -1.40 |
| Atlanta | 6.93 | 11.98 | -5.05 |
| Columbus | 11.62 | 9.74 | +1.88 |
| Macon | 8.67 | 9.70 | -1.03 |
| Cartersville | 8.36 | 11.10 | -2.74 |
| Dekalb Peachtree Arpt | 8.43 | 12.23 | -3.80 |
| Fulton County Arpt | 6.86 | 11.76 | -4.90 |
| Gainesville | 7.70 | 13.23 | -5.53 |
| Peachtree City | 7.93 | 11.12 | -3.19 |
| Rome | 13.23 | 12.12 | +1.11 |
| Autumn 2022 Precipitation Ranking & Records | ||||
| Climate Site | Total Precipitation Ranking | Minimum Total Precip Record (in) (Year) | Maximum Total Precip Record (in) (Year) | |
| Athens | 43rd Driest | 2.64 (2001) | 24.17 (2009) | |
| Atlanta | 26th Driest | 2.94 (1931) | 23.40 (2009) | |
| Columbus | 29th Driest | 2.30 (1961) | 18.44 (2009) | |
| Macon | 42nd Driest | 1.62 (1991) | 20.94 (2009) |
| Autumn 2022 Precipitation Climate Statistics | ||||
| Climate Site | Maximum Daily Precip (in) | Max P Date | ||
| Athens | 1.98 | 11/10 | ||
| Atlanta | 1.85 | 11/29 | ||
| Columbus | 2.75* | 10/5 | ||
| Macon | 2.47 | 11/10 | ||
| Cartersville | 1.91 | 11/30 | ||
| Dekalb Peachtree Arpt | 2.65 | 11/29 | ||
| Fulton Co Arpt | 2.40 | 11/29 | ||
| Gainesville | 1.47 | 9/4 | ||
| Peachtree City | 1.88 | 11/29 | ||
| Rome | 3.25 | 11/29 |
For much more information on the climate in our area, visit the NWS Climate FAQ for the Atlanta area.
What does the National Weather Service do?
The National Weather Service (NWS) is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The NWS describes its role as follows:
“The National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather, water, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy.
“These services include Forecasts and Observations, Warnings, Impact-based Decision Support Services, and Education in an effort to build a Weather-Ready Nation. The ultimate goal is to have a society that is prepared for and responds to weather, water and climate events.”
