The National Weather Service forecasts mostly cloudy skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, December 17, 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 light to moderate rainfall that will continue this morning before gradually coming to an end this evening.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly before noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54. East wind 10 to 15 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. 

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 38. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. 

Monday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 51. Northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. 

Monday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 25. Northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. 

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 43. Northwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. 

Tuesday Night

Widespread frost after midnight. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 24.

Wednesday

Widespread frost before 9 a.m. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 50.

Wednesday Night

Widespread frost before midnight, then widespread frost after 2 a.m. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 27.

Thursday

Widespread frost, mainly before 9 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 56.

Thursday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34.

Friday

Partly sunny, with a high near 57.

Friday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39.

Saturday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly 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 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 17, 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	56	75 in 1933	31 in 1901
Min Temperature	M	38	62 in 2008	15 in 1901
Avg Temperature	M	47.0	67.5 in 1933	23.0 in 1901
Precipitation	M	0.15	3.65 in 1915	0.00 in 2022
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.5 in 2000	0.0 in 2022
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 2000	0 in 2022
HDD (base 65)	M	18	42 in 1901	0 in 2008
CDD (base 65)	M	0	3 in 1933	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	61.6	57.5	67.4 in 1956	43.6 in 1886
Avg Min Temperature	41.2	39.4	47.7 in 2012	26.9 in 1962
Avg Temperature	51.4	48.4	56.8 in 2001	35.8 in 1917
Total Precipitation	1.69	2.36	12.34 in 1919	0.00 in 1889
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.1	2.4 in 1958	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	212	283	490 in 1917	134 in 2001
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	76.0	74.0	76.3 in 2016	62.5 in 1878
Avg Min Temperature	57.3	54.8	57.4 in 2019	46.1 in 1878
Avg Temperature	66.7	64.4	66.8 in 2019	54.3 in 1878
Total Precipitation	39.05	48.22	68.64 in 1948	9.21 in 1878
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	0.0	0.1	2.4 in 1958	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (since July 1)	551	722	1304 in 1976	446 in 2015
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2221	2050	2643 in 2019	33 in 1878

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-12-16
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-12-16
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2023-12-16
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2023-12-16
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2023-12-16

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.”