The National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, March 31, 2024, with a high near 80 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be partly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 61 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy, with a low around 61. Southwest wind around 5 mph.

Monday

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Monday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southwest wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Tuesday

A slight chance of showers, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. Southwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Tuesday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 2 a.m, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 a.m. Low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent.

Wednesday

A 10 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 39.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 59.

Thursday Night

Clear, with a low around 36.

Friday

Sunny, with a high near 64.

Friday Night

Clear, with a low around 38.

Saturday

Sunny, with a high near 68.

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 31, 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	70	85 in 1981	41 in 1987
Min Temperature	M	49	63 in 2012	29 in 2003
Avg Temperature	M	59.2	72.0 in 1938	36.5 in 1987
Precipitation	M	0.14	2.82 in 1961	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.0	T in 1987	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	7	28 in 1987	0 in 2023
CDD (base 65)	M	1	7 in 1938	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	68.0	65.9	74.2 in 2012	50.8 in 1960
Avg Min Temperature	48.9	45.3	54.7 in 2012	32.7 in 1960
Avg Temperature	58.5	55.6	64.5 in 2012	41.8 in 1960
Total Precipitation	7.98	4.68	13.28 in 1929	0.88 in 1905
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.4	7.9 in 1983	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1993	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	192	308	713 in 1960	104 in 2012
Total CDD (base 65)	5	17	96 in 2012	0 in 2014
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	61.6	59.4	65.2 in 2017	49.9 in 1940
Avg Min Temperature	42.2	40.0	46.1 in 2023	31.0 in 1940
Avg Temperature	51.9	49.7	55.5 in 2023	40.4 in 1940
Total Precipitation	18.30	13.82	29.74 in 1881	7.38 in 1941
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	2.2	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)	1961	2401	3719 in 1977	1619 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	7	19	100 in 2012	0 in 2010

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-30
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-30
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-03-30
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-30
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-30

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.”