The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Thursday, February 8, 2024, with a high near 59 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be mostly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 45 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 59. South wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 45. Southeast wind around 5 mph. 

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a high near 65. South wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Friday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers. Cloudy, with a low around 55. South wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. 

Saturday

Showers likely, mainly after 1 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 67. South wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Saturday Night

Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 1 a.m. Low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Sunday

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 62. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent.

Sunday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Low around 55. Chance of precipitation is 100 percent.

Monday

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1 p.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Monday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly before 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36.

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 51.

Tuesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 32.

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 56.

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 8, 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	57	79 in 1957	14 in 1895
Min Temperature	M	38	62 in 1937	0 in 1895
Avg Temperature	M	47.1	67.5 in 1937	7.0 in 1895
Precipitation	M	0.15	2.98 in 1881	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.1 in 1968	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 1968	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	18	58 in 1895	0 in 1957
CDD (base 65)	M	0	3 in 1937	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	61.1	56.0	71.1 in 1957	36.4 in 1905
Avg Min Temperature	40.1	36.9	52.6 in 1957	16.0 in 1917
Avg Temperature	50.6	46.4	61.9 in 1957	27.9 in 1917
Total Precipitation	0.58	1.25	5.75 in 1936	0.00 in 2000
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.1	1.7 in 1980	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	3 in 1936	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	99	149	295 in 1917	30 in 1957
Total CDD (base 65)	0	0	7 in 1957	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	54.9	54.4	64.6 in 1950	40.1 in 1977
Avg Min Temperature	36.1	35.9	46.4 in 1950	20.2 in 1977
Avg Temperature	45.5	45.1	55.5 in 1950	30.2 in 1977
Total Precipitation	7.01	5.84	16.57 in 1936	1.61 in 1941
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	1.5	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)	1530	1766	3029 in 1977	1197 in 1932
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	0	10 in 1937	0 in 2021

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-07
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-07
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-02-07
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-07
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-07

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.”