The National Weather Service forecasts partly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Friday, May 3, 2024, with a high near 82 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to isolated to widely scattered showers and thunderstorms that are expected today, especially during the afternoon.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Tonight

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Southeast wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Saturday

A chance of showers before 8 a.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 8 a.m and 2 p.m, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Patchy fog before 10 a.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Saturday Night

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind around 5 mph.

Sunday

A chance of showers before 11 a.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11 a.m and 2 p.m, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Sunday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 8 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 64. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Monday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Monday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 8 p.m, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 8 p.m and 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 64. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Tuesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 86.

Tuesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 66.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.

Wednesday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.

Thursday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with April 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
2024-04-01	78	65	71.5	12	0
2024-04-02	81	64	72.5	12.8	2.66
2024-04-03	68	50	59	-0.9	0.75
2024-04-04	65	44	54.5	-5.7	0
2024-04-05	64	43	53.5	-6.9	0
2024-04-06	66	40	53	-7.7	0
2024-04-07	74	45	59.5	-1.4	0
2024-04-08	76	55	65.5	4.3	0
2024-04-09	66	58	62	0.6	0.69
2024-04-10	73	60	66.5	4.8	0.26
2024-04-11	75	55	65	3.1	0.21
2024-04-12	69	51	60	-2.2	0
2024-04-13	77	48	62.5	0	0
2024-04-14	85	54	69.5	6.8	0
2024-04-15	84	59	71.5	8.5	0
2024-04-16	84	61	72.5	9.3	0
2024-04-17	80	66	73	9.5	0.08
2024-04-18	85	61	73	9.2	0
2024-04-19	86	67	76.5	12.5	T
2024-04-20	79	57	68	3.7	0.5
2024-04-21	60	50	55	-9.6	0.52
2024-04-22	67	44	55.5	-9.3	0
2024-04-23	72	46	59	-6.1	0
2024-04-24	76	54	65	-0.4	T
2024-04-25	80	56	68	2.4	0
2024-04-26	82	61	71.5	5.6	0
2024-04-27	77	61	69	2.8	0
2024-04-28	79	60	69.5	3.1	0
2024-04-29	79	59	69	2.3	0
2024-04-30	78	64	71	4	0.06

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, May 3, 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	78	91 in 1952	51 in 1921
Min Temperature	M	58	70 in 1990	40 in 1971
Avg Temperature	M	67.8	79.5 in 1990	47.0 in 1921
Precipitation	M	0.12	2.81 in 2010	0.00 in 2023
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	2	18 in 1921	0 in 2022
CDD (base 65)	M	4	15 in 1990	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	85.5	77.9	89.7 in 1990	59.7 in 1921
Avg Min Temperature	62.5	57.2	68.7 in 2010	42.0 in 1909
Avg Temperature	74.0	67.5	78.2 in 1990	52.3 in 1921
Total Precipitation	0.00	0.36	2.86 in 1989	0.00 in 2024
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.0	T in 1953	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	0	5	37 in 1921	0 in 2024
Total CDD (base 65)	18	12	40 in 1990	0 in 2023
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	65.5	63.4	68.6 in 2017	55.3 in 1940
Avg Min Temperature	45.8	43.4	48.7 in 2017	35.5 in 1940
Avg Temperature	55.7	53.4	58.6 in 2017	45.4 in 1940
Total Precipitation	24.03	17.99	34.47 in 1881	7.96 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)	2040	2526	3821 in 1977	1666 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	126	95	238 in 2012	17 in 2005

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-05-02
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-05-02
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-05-02
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-05-01
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-04-29

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.”