The National Weather Service forecasts sunny skies here in Cobb County on Monday, February 26, 2024, with a high near 73 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to a fire danger statement that is in effect through 7 p.m tonight due to low relative humidities.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Today

Sunny, with a high near 73. Light south wind becoming southwest 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. 

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with a low around 54. South wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers between 8 a.m and 9 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 71. South wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.

Tuesday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. South wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. 

Wednesday

A chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 75. South wind 15 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Wednesday Night

A 30 percent chance of rain before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 34.

Thursday

Partly sunny, with a high near 57.

Thursday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 39.

Friday

A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 51.

Friday Night

A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 44.

Saturday

A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.

Saturday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.

Sunday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with January 2024 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
2024-01-01	50	34	42	-3.1	0
2024-01-02	54	30	42	-3	0
2024-01-03	47	31	39	-5.9	0.03
2024-01-04	53	34	43.5	-1.3	0
2024-01-05	53	32	42.5	-2.2	0.17
2024-01-06	51	39	45	0.3	0.7
2024-01-07	51	36	43.5	-1.1	T
2024-01-08	52	33	42.5	-2.1	0.44
2024-01-09	54	40	47	2.5	2.75
2024-01-10	51	37	44	-0.5	0
2024-01-11	62	35	48.5	4	0
2024-01-12	56	42	49	4.5	0.22
2024-01-13	50	31	40.5	-4	0
2024-01-14	58	30	44	-0.5	0
2024-01-15	61	42	51.5	7	0
2024-01-16	46	18	32	-12.5	0.4
2024-01-17	39	13	26	-18.5	0
2024-01-18	51	24	37.5	-7	0
2024-01-19	48	27	37.5	-7.1	0.02
2024-01-20	32	17	24.5	-20.1	0
2024-01-21	41	14	27.5	-17.2	0
2024-01-22	50	27	38.5	-6.2	0
2024-01-23	52	41	46.5	1.7	0.05
2024-01-24	63	48	55.5	10.6	0.09
2024-01-25	72	61	66.5	21.5	1.1
2024-01-26	69	60	64.5	19.4	0
2024-01-27	66	57	61.5	16.3	0.46
2024-01-28	56	44	50	4.7	T
2024-01-29	54	39	46.5	1.1	0
2024-01-30	61	33	47	1.4	T
2024-01-31	56	40	48	2.3	T

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, February 26, 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	61	80 in 1996	36 in 1920
Min Temperature	M	41	63 in 1944	14 in 1967
Avg Temperature	M	51.2	69.5 in 1944	29.5 in 1920
Precipitation	M	0.16	2.72 in 1899	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.0	3.9 in 1952	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 1952	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	14	35 in 1937	0 in 2023
CDD (base 65)	M	0	5 in 1944	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	62.7	58.0	66.7 in 2017	39.9 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	42.3	38.7	49.0 in 2018	25.3 in 1895
Avg Temperature	52.5	48.3	57.4 in 2018	32.6 in 1895
Total Precipitation	3.67	4.22	12.68 in 1961	0.33 in 1978
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.4	4.4 in 1979	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1979	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	308	435	836 in 1895	220 in 2018
Total CDD (base 65)	0	1	27 in 2018	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	57.6	55.8	63.7 in 2017	43.4 in 1940
Avg Min Temperature	38.3	37.0	44.8 in 2023	23.6 in 1977
Avg Temperature	48.0	46.4	53.9 in 2017	34.7 in 1940
Total Precipitation	10.10	8.81	19.04 in 1883	3.04 in 1938
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	1.8	10.9 in 1936	0.0 in 2019
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	8 in 1940	0 in 2024
Total HDD (since July 1)	1739	2052	3379 in 1977	1338 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	1	27 in 2018	0 in 2021

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-25
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-25
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-02-25
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-24
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-24

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.”