The National Weather Service forecasts increasing clouds here in Cobb County on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, with a high near 60 degrees.

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

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Today

Areas of frost between 7 a.m and 9 a.m. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a high near 60. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. 

Tonight

Areas of frost after 5 a.m. Otherwise, clear, with a low around 35. Calm wind. 

Wednesday

Areas of frost before 9 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 63. East wind around 5 mph becoming south in the afternoon. 

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 41. South wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Thursday

Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. 

Thursday Night

Showers before 1 a.m, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm between 1 a.m and 4 a.m, then showers after 4 a.m. Low around 53. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers before 1 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 63.

Friday Night

Clear, with a low around 39.

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 61.

Saturday Night

Clear, with a low around 35.

Sunday

Sunny, with a high near 66.

Sunday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 45.

Monday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 71.

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 20, 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	78 in 1986	32 in 1901
Min Temperature	M	40	58 in 2018	16 in 2015
Avg Temperature	M	49.7	66.5 in 2018	25.5 in 2015
Precipitation	M	0.17	2.34 in 1951	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.0	T in 2015	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 1979	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	15	39 in 2015	0 in 2018
CDD (base 65)	M	0	2 in 2018	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	61.6	57.3	66.6 in 1990	35.0 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	42.5	38.0	49.1 in 1927	22.1 in 1895
Avg Temperature	52.1	47.7	56.6 in 1927	28.6 in 1895
Total Precipitation	3.49	3.21	9.44 in 2020	0.30 in 1977
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.3	4.4 in 1979	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1979	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	242	348	724 in 1895	166 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	55.3	62.9 in 1950	41.8 in 1905
Avg Min Temperature	37.9	36.6	45.0 in 1950	22.2 in 1977
Avg Temperature	47.3	45.9	54.0 in 1950	33.0 in 1977
Total Precipitation	9.92	7.80	18.31 in 1936	2.37 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)	1673	1965	3297 in 1977	1311 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	0	12 in 1932	0 in 2021

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-19
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-19
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-02-19
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-19
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-19

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.”