The National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Friday, May 31, 2024, with a high near 82 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be mostly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 63 degrees.

What you will read in this article

1. The extended forecast for Cobb County
2. Last month’s climate summary for the metro Atlanta region
3. The climate almanac for metro Atlanta
4. What the National Weather Service is, and what it does

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 82. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon. 

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. East wind around 5 mph. 

Saturday

A slight chance of thunderstorms after 5 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. Southeast wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 10 percent.

Saturday Night

A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 11 p.m, then a slight chance of showers between 11 p.m and 2 a.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Sunday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 a.m, then a chance of showers between 8 a.m and 11 a.m, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 11 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 81. South wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50 percent.

Sunday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8 p.m. Patchy fog after 1 a.m. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 65.

Monday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m. Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 86.

Monday Night

A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8 p.m, then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 a.m. Patchy fog after 3 a.m. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 66. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Tuesday

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 8 a.m. Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 85.

Tuesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.

Wednesday

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Patchy fog. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 86.

Wednesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 68.

Thursday

A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.

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 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	84	95 in 1953	59 in 1889
Min Temperature	M	65	73 in 1991	41 in 1889
Avg Temperature	M	74.9	83.0 in 1918	50.0 in 1889
Precipitation	M	0.13	1.60 in 1903	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	0	15 in 1889	0 in 2023
CDD (base 65)	M	10	18 in 1991	0 in 2005
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	83.2	81.1	86.3 in 1962	73.5 in 1917
Avg Min Temperature	65.6	61.3	66.9 in 2019	53.7 in 1954
Avg Temperature	74.4	71.2	76.4 in 2019	64.0 in 1917
Total Precipitation	2.95	3.56	9.94 in 2003	0.30 in 1914
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.0	T in 1953	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	0 in 2024	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	0	22	117 in 1917	0 in 2024
Total CDD (base 65)	290	215	365 in 2019	62 in 1997
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	68.8	66.7	70.9 in 2017	59.3 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	49.5	46.8	51.3 in 1880	39.4 in 1940
Avg Temperature	59.1	56.8	61.0 in 2012	49.8 in 1940
Total Precipitation	26.98	21.19	38.97 in 1929	10.91 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	2542	3832 in 1977	1690 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	398	298	489 in 2012	104 in 1973

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-05-30
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-05-30
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-05-30
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-05-30
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-05-26

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.”