The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, December 24, 2023, with a high near 63 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be cloudy, with an overnight low of around 53 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Partly sunny, with a high near 63. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tonight

Showers likely, mainly after 3 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 53. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Christmas Day

Showers. High near 60. Southeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Monday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 4 a.m, then showers likely. Low around 56. East wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Tuesday

Scattered showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. East wind around 5 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.

Tuesday Night

Isolated showers before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 57.

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 34.

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 46.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 31.

Friday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 47.

Friday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 29.

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 45.

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 24, 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	55	73 in 2016	27 in 2022
Min Temperature	M	37	65 in 2015	3 in 1983
Avg Temperature	M	46.0	68.5 in 2015	16.0 in 1983
Precipitation	M	0.16	3.93 in 2015	0.00 in 2022
Snowfall	M	0.1	T in 2020	0.0 in 2022
Snow Depth	M	–	T in 1963	0 in 2022
HDD (base 65)	M	19	49 in 1983	0 in 2015
CDD (base 65)	M	0	4 in 2015	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	60.0	56.8	66.3 in 1889	43.3 in 1963
Avg Min Temperature	39.9	38.9	48.4 in 1889	26.3 in 1963
Avg Temperature	49.9	47.8	57.3 in 1889	34.8 in 1963
Total Precipitation	1.70	3.46	12.94 in 1919	0.14 in 1988
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.3	3.0 in 2000	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	339	414	720 in 1963	179 in 1889
Total CDD (base 65)	0	2	13 in 1991	0 in 2023
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	75.6	73.6	76.0 in 2016	60.7 in 1878
Avg Min Temperature	56.9	54.5	57.0 in 2019	44.7 in 1878
Avg Temperature	66.3	64.0	66.4 in 2019	52.7 in 1878
Total Precipitation	39.06	49.32	69.24 in 1948	11.02 in 1878
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	0.0	0.3	3.0 in 2000	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (since July 1)	678	853	1497 in 1976	536 in 2015
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2221	2050	2643 in 2019	33 in 1878

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-12-23
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-12-23
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2023-12-23
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2023-12-23
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2023-12-23

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.”