The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, March 17, 2024, with a high near 65 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a Freeze Watch that is in effect from late Monday night through Tuesday morning. Frost and freeze conditions could kill crops and other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Showers likely, mainly after 4 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Tonight

A 10 percent chance of showers before 7 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Monday

Sunny, with a high near 55. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Monday Night

Clear, with a low around 30. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 57. West wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Tuesday Night

Clear, with a low around 39.

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 68.

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.

Thursday

Partly sunny, with a high near 69.

Thursday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 47.

Friday

A 40 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 61.

Friday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Saturday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 66.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with February 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
2024-02-01	63	33	48	2.2	0
2024-02-02	70	41	55.5	9.5	0
2024-02-03	62	46	54	7.8	0
2024-02-04	50	42	46	-0.3	0.51
2024-02-05	59	42	50.5	4	0.07
2024-02-06	65	40	52.5	5.8	0
2024-02-07	59	37	48	1.1	0
2024-02-08	56	39	47.5	0.4	0
2024-02-09	63	47	55	7.7	0
2024-02-10	66	56	61	13.5	0.06
2024-02-11	68	60	64	16.3	0.59
2024-02-12	61	49	55	7.1	2.25
2024-02-13	57	41	49	0.9	T
2024-02-14	66	37	51.5	3.2	0
2024-02-15	69	41	55	6.5	0
2024-02-16	65	50	57.5	8.7	0
2024-02-17	57	36	46.5	-2.5	0.01
2024-02-18	53	31	42	-7.2	0
2024-02-19	62	39	50.5	1	0
2024-02-20	62	37	49.5	-0.2	0
2024-02-21	66	38	52	2	0
2024-02-22	70	44	57	6.8	0
2024-02-23	68	54	61	10.6	0.18
2024-02-24	66	43	54.5	3.8	0
2024-02-25	64	34	49	-1.9	0
2024-02-26	73	44	58.5	7.3	0
2024-02-27	73	56	64.5	13.1	T
2024-02-28	75	44	59.5	7.8	0.22
2024-02-29	53	38	45.5	-6.3	0

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, March 17, 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	66	86 in 1945	38 in 1892
Min Temperature	M	46	65 in 2002	23 in 1895
Avg Temperature	M	55.9	75.0 in 1945	34.0 in 1892
Precipitation	M	0.15	2.06 in 1920	0.00 in 2022
Snowfall	M	0.0	T in 1936	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	10	31 in 1892	0 in 2018
CDD (base 65)	M	1	10 in 1945	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	67.9	64.0	72.8 in 1974	41.7 in 1960
Avg Min Temperature	50.3	43.8	52.4 in 1903	26.0 in 1960
Avg Temperature	59.1	53.9	61.4 in 1955	33.9 in 1960
Total Precipitation	6.95	2.70	10.55 in 1880	0.09 in 1970
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.3	4.8 in 1960	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1993	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	95	195	525 in 1960	74 in 1973
Total CDD (base 65)	5	7	37 in 2012	0 in 2018
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	60.3	57.8	64.2 in 2023	47.6 in 1940
Avg Min Temperature	41.2	38.7	46.1 in 1880	27.9 in 1977
Avg Temperature	50.8	48.3	55.0 in 2023	38.4 in 1940
Total Precipitation	17.27	11.84	25.97 in 1990	5.48 in 1941
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	2.1	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)	1864	2288	3626 in 1977	1590 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	7	8	41 in 2012	0 in 2010

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-16
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-16
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-03-16
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-16
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-16

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.”