The National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Saturday, August 12, 2023, with a high near 93 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be mostly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 72 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

This forecast is centered on Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.

Today

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4 p.m. Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Heat index values as high as 103. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. 

Tonight

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. West wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Sunday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 4 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Heat index values as high as 104. West wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Sunday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. 

Monday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. West wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. 

Monday Night

A 10 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. Mostly clear, with a low around 73.

Tuesday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.

Tuesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 p.m. Mostly clear, with a low around 63.

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 87.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 65.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 91.

Thursday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 67.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Sunny, with a high near 92.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with July 2023 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.”

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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 Temp	Min Temp	Average	Departure from norm	Precipitation
2023-07-01	96	73	84.5	4.4	0
2023-07-02	93	73	83	2.8	0.61
2023-07-03	89	72	80.5	0.2	0.01
2023-07-04	92	73	82.5	2.1	0
2023-07-05	88	75	81.5	1	0
2023-07-06	93	73	83	2.4	0
2023-07-07	92	74	83	2.4	T
2023-07-08	92	72	82	1.3	0
2023-07-09	91	71	81	0.2	0.19
2023-07-10	87	70	78.5	-2.3	0.73
2023-07-11	90	71	80.5	-0.4	0
2023-07-12	92	74	83	2	T
2023-07-13	92	74	83	2	0
2023-07-14	93	75	84	3	0
2023-07-15	93	77	85	3.9	0
2023-07-16	94	73	83.5	2.4	0
2023-07-17	91	71	81	-0.1	0
2023-07-18	93	73	83	1.8	T
2023-07-19	94	76	85	3.8	T
2023-07-20	96	74	85	3.8	T
2023-07-21	94	72	83	1.8	0.13
2023-07-22	87	71	79	-2.2	0.05
2023-07-23	92	72	82	0.8	0
2023-07-24	93	72	82.5	1.2	0
2023-07-25	95	71	83	1.7	T
2023-07-26	96	76	86	4.8	0
2023-07-27	97	75	86	4.8	0
2023-07-28	94	77	85.5	4.3	0.01
2023-07-29	98	77	87.5	6.3	0
2023-07-30	94	75	84.5	3.3	0
2023-07-31	97	74	85.5	4.3	0

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, August 9, allowing a comparison to current weather. Simply put, it helps you see what the weather would typically be like on this day according to historical data.

Daily Data	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Max Temperature	M	90	98 in 1999	73 in 1940
Min Temperature	M	72	80 in 1881	59 in 1890
Avg Temperature	M	80.6	88.5 in 1999	69.5 in 1922
Precipitation	M	0.14	4.94 in 1940	0.00 in 2018
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.0 in 2022	0.0 in 2022
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2022	0 in 2022
HDD (base 65)	M	0	0 in 2022	0 in 2022
CDD (base 65)	M	16	24 in 1999	5 in 1922
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	91.7	89.9	96.9 in 2007	80.2 in 1884
Avg Min Temperature	71.9	72.0	76.3 in 2007	64.8 in 1976
Avg Temperature	81.8	80.9	86.6 in 2007	73.3 in 1912
Total Precipitation	2.40	1.61	6.38 in 1887	T in 2002
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.0	0.0 in 2023	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth	0	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	0	0	2 in 1894	0 in 2023
Total CDD (base 65)	187	191	263 in 2007	101 in 1912
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	75.9	73.9	77.2 in 2012	67.8 in 1912
Avg Min Temperature	57.3	54.6	57.5 in 2012	48.5 in 1940
Avg Temperature	66.6	64.2	67.4 in 2012	58.8 in 1940
Total Precipitation	29.44	32.09	50.11 in 1912	17.26 in 2007
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	0.0	0.0	T in 2001	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	T in 1942	0 in 2023
Total HDD (since July 1)	0	0	4 in 1936	0 in 2023
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	1420	1369	1649 in 2012	857 in 1976

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-08-11
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-08-11
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2023-08-11
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2023-08-11
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2023-08-11

For much more information on the climate in our area, visit the NWS Climate FAQ for the Atlanta area.

More climate coverage from the Cobb County Courier

Extreme Heat Is Particularly Hard On Older Adults, And An Aging Population And Climate Change Are Putting Ever More People At Risk

How climate change intensifies the water cycle, fueling extreme rainfall and flooding – the Northeast deluge was just the latest

KSU professor awarded NSF grant to study effects of climate change on farming communities in Iceland and Greenland

Record low water levels on the Mississippi River in 2022 show how climate change is altering large rivers

Satellites detect no real climate benefit from 10 years of forest carbon offsets in California

4 signs of progress at the UN climate change summit

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.”