The National Weather Service forecasts mostly cloudy skies here in Cobb County on Saturday, December 9, 2023, with a high near 65 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to have showers and thunderstorms, with an overnight low of around 58 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Saturday

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 10 a.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly between 10 a.m and 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65. South wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. 

Saturday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 10 p.m. Low around 58. Southeast wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. 

Sunday

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 3 p.m, then showers likely. High near 61. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent.

Sunday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers before 7 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 31. Northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. 

Monday

Sunny, with a high near 47.

Monday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 28.

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 54.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 56.

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 55.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 35.

Friday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 56.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with November 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	High	Low	Average	Departure from norm	Precipitation
2023-11-01	55	34	44.5	-14.2	0
2023-11-02	57	35	46	-12.3	0
2023-11-03	66	37	51.5	-6.5	0
2023-11-04	73	42	57.5	-0.1	0
2023-11-05	75	48	61.5	4.2	0
2023-11-06	78	49	63.5	6.6	0
2023-11-07	81	53	67	10.4	0
2023-11-08	80	54	67	10.7	0
2023-11-09	78	60	69	13	0
2023-11-10	67	57	62	6.4	0.05
2023-11-11	56	51	53.5	-1.8	0.64
2023-11-12	59	50	54.5	-0.5	T
2023-11-13	67	51	59	4.3	0
2023-11-14	69	52	60.5	6.1	0
2023-11-15	63	53	58	3.9	T
2023-11-16	70	54	62	8.2	0
2023-11-17	72	58	65	11.5	T
2023-11-18	74	54	64	10.7	0
2023-11-19	70	47	58.5	5.5	0
2023-11-20	67	54	60.5	7.8	T
2023-11-21	67	58	62.5	10	1.23
2023-11-22	59	46	52.5	0.3	0
2023-11-23	58	40	49	-2.9	0
2023-11-24	64	44	54	2.3	0
2023-11-25	60	44	52	0.6	0
2023-11-26	50	44	47	-4.2	0.09
2023-11-27	52	39	45.5	-5.4	0
2023-11-28	53	35	44	-6.7	0
2023-11-29	56	28	42	-8.5	0
2023-11-30	59	35	47	-3.3	0

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, December 7, 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	57	76 in 2007	29 in 1917
Min Temperature	M	39	58 in 2012	8 in 1917
Avg Temperature	M	48.4	66.5 in 2007	18.5 in 1917
Precipitation	M	0.14	5.71 in 1919	0.00 in 2020
Snowfall	M	0.1	1.5 in 2017	0.0 in 2022
Snow Depth	M	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2022
HDD (base 65)	M	17	46 in 1917	0 in 2012
CDD (base 65)	M	0	2 in 2007	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	63.5	58.4	71.7 in 1998	39.6 in 1886
Avg Min Temperature	43.8	40.0	53.8 in 1922	25.7 in 1937
Avg Temperature	53.6	49.2	62.6 in 1998	32.7 in 1886
Total Precipitation	0.25	1.17	11.76 in 1919	0.00 in 1970
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.1	2.3 in 2017	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	88	143	287 in 1886	23 in 1998
Total CDD (base 65)	0	1	13 in 1991	0 in 2023
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	76.4	74.4	76.8 in 2016	63.3 in 1878
Avg Min Temperature	57.8	55.2	57.8 in 2019	47.0 in 1878
Avg Temperature	67.1	64.8	67.2 in 2019	55.1 in 1878
Total Precipitation	37.61	47.03	68.26 in 1948	8.42 in 1878
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	0.0	0.1	2.3 in 2017	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (since July 1)	427	583	1143 in 1976	318 in 1998
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2221	2050	2643 in 2019	33 in 1878

Period of Record:

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

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.”