The National Weather Service forecasts mostly cloudy skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, February 18, 2024, with a high near 51 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to high fire danger conditions that are expected this afternoon into the evening for parts of North and West Georgia due to low relative humidity. 

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Today

Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 51. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 30. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Washington’s Birthday

Sunny, with a high near 57. Northwest wind around 5 mph.

Monday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 60. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tuesday Night

Clear, with a low around 34.

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 65.

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 45.

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 69.

Thursday Night

Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.

Friday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 35.

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 57.

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 18, 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	59	75 in 1951	28 in 1979
Min Temperature	M	40	63 in 1891	8 in 1900
Avg Temperature	M	49.2	69.0 in 1891	18.5 in 1900
Precipitation	M	0.17	2.41 in 2020	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.1	4.0 in 1979	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	2 in 1979	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	16	46 in 1958	0 in 1891
CDD (base 65)	M	0	4 in 1891	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	62.1	57.0	66.8 in 1990	33.8 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	43.4	37.8	51.1 in 1927	20.9 in 1895
Avg Temperature	52.7	47.4	58.6 in 1927	27.4 in 1895
Total Precipitation	3.49	2.88	9.11 in 1990	0.26 in 1947
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.3	4.4 in 1979	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1934	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	205	317	673 in 1895	113 in 1927
Total CDD (base 65)	0	0	8 in 1957	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	56.6	55.1	63.2 in 1950	42.0 in 1905
Avg Min Temperature	38.0	36.4	45.4 in 1950	21.7 in 1977
Avg Temperature	47.3	45.8	54.3 in 1950	32.6 in 1977
Total Precipitation	9.92	7.47	18.31 in 1936	2.34 in 1938
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	1.7	8.9 in 1936	0.0 in 2019
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	8 in 1940	0 in 2024
Total HDD (since July 1)	1636	1934	3256 in 1977	1303 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	0	12 in 1932	0 in 2021

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-17
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-17
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-02-17
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-17
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-17

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.”