The National Weather Service forecasts sunny skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, December 31, 2023, with a high near 55 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be partly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 35 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Patchy frost before 10 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 55. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with a low around 35. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west after midnight.

New Year’s Day

Mostly sunny, with a high near 48. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Monday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 26. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 50. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Tuesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 28.

Wednesday

A 20 percent chance of showers after 1 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 50.

Wednesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 46.

Thursday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 25.

Friday

Sunny, with a high near 50.

Friday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 30.

Saturday

Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 47. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

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 31, 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	54	73 in 1984	26 in 1917
Min Temperature	M	36	61 in 1996	4 in 1880
Avg Temperature	M	45.2	66.0 in 1996	19.0 in 1880
Precipitation	M	0.16	2.42 in 1973	0.00 in 2019
Snowfall	M	0.0	2.2 in 1963	0.0 in 2022
Snow Depth	M	–	T in 1935	0 in 2022
HDD (base 65)	M	20	46 in 1880	0 in 1996
CDD (base 65)	M	0	1 in 1996	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	59.3	56.2	65.7 in 2015	44.0 in 1935
Avg Min Temperature	40.9	38.4	49.5 in 2015	26.5 in 1963
Avg Temperature	50.1	47.3	57.6 in 2015	35.5 in 1963
Total Precipitation	3.68	4.57	12.94 in 1919	0.60 in 1889
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.4	3.0 in 2000	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth	0	–	2 in 2017	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	437	551	907 in 1963	237 in 1889
Total CDD (base 65)	0	3	22 in 2015	0 in 2023
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	75.3	73.2	75.8 in 2016	59.0 in 1878
Avg Min Temperature	56.7	54.1	56.9 in 2019	43.3 in 1878
Avg Temperature	66.0	63.7	66.2 in 2019	51.1 in 1878
Total Precipitation	41.04	50.43	71.45 in 1948	12.33 in 1878
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	0.0	0.4	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)	776	990	1680 in 1976	551 in 2015
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2221	2051	2645 in 2019	33 in 1878

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-12-30
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-12-30
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2023-12-30
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2023-12-30
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2023-12-28

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.”