The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, with a high near 86 degrees.

The weather service has also issued a hazardous 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 northwest Georgia because of expected low relative humidities.

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 86. Light south wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph. 

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. South wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Wednesday

A slight chance of showers, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 79. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Wednesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 7 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 62. West wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. West wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Thursday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 63.

Friday

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 84.

Friday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59.

Saturday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 80.

Saturday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57.

Sunday

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.

Sunday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.

Monday

Partly sunny, with a high near 69.

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
2024-03-01	49	40	44.5	-7.4	1.11
2024-03-02	62	42	52	-0.2	T
2024-03-03	70	49	59.5	7.1	0
2024-03-04	63	57	60	7.3	T
2024-03-05	61	55	58	5.1	1.02
2024-03-06	65	56	60.5	7.3	2.36
2024-03-07	76	53	64.5	11.1	0
2024-03-08	66	59	62.5	8.8	1.45
2024-03-09	69	52	60.5	6.6	0.65
2024-03-10	61	43	52	-2.2	0
2024-03-11	67	38	52.5	-1.9	0
2024-03-12	74	44	59	4.4	0
2024-03-13	75	47	61	6.1	0
2024-03-14	81	52	66.5	11.4	0
2024-03-15	72	61	66.5	11.1	0.36
2024-03-16	75	57	66	10.4	0
2024-03-17	67	53	60	4.1	0.02
2024-03-18	61	40	50.5	-5.6	0
2024-03-19	60	33	46.5	-9.8	0
2024-03-20	74	42	58	1.4	0
2024-03-21	77	51	64	7.2	0
2024-03-22	65	56	60.5	3.4	0.25
2024-03-23	69	50	59.5	2.2	0.04
2024-03-24	65	43	54	-3.5	0
2024-03-25	64	47	55.5	-2.3	0
2024-03-26	62	53	57.5	-0.5	0.72
2024-03-27	74	53	63.5	5.2	T
2024-03-28	68	50	59	0.5	0
2024-03-29	72	43	57.5	-1.2	0
2024-03-30	77	49	63	4	0
2024-03-31	80	56	68	8.8	0

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, April 16, 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	74	86 in 1896	49 in 1905
Min Temperature	M	53	64 in 1945	32 in 1962
Avg Temperature	M	63.2	74.5 in 1896	43.0 in 1905
Precipitation	M	0.12	2.10 in 1910	0.00 in 2021
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.0 in 2023	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	4	22 in 1905	0 in 2023
CDD (base 65)	M	2	10 in 1896	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	73.4	72.1	79.8 in 1978	59.3 in 1907
Avg Min Temperature	52.7	50.6	58.1 in 2015	39.9 in 1907
Avg Temperature	63.1	61.3	67.8 in 1999	49.6 in 1907
Total Precipitation	4.57	2.08	9.50 in 1979	T in 1976
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.0	T in 2022	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	0 in 2024	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	54	83	242 in 1907	7 in 1967
Total CDD (base 65)	30	24	70 in 1999	0 in 2016
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	63.4	61.3	66.8 in 2017	52.7 in 1902
Avg Min Temperature	43.8	41.6	47.2 in 2023	33.3 in 1940
Avg Temperature	53.6	51.5	56.8 in 2017	43.2 in 1940
Total Precipitation	22.87	15.90	32.81 in 1936	7.80 in 1986
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)	2015	2484	3785 in 1977	1656 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	40	43	146 in 2012	0 in 1902

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-04-15
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-04-15
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-04-15
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-04-14
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-04-14

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.”