The National Weather Service forecasts cloudy skies here in Cobb County on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, with a high near 71 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to thunderstorms that will be possible this afternoon and evening.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Showers likely, mainly before 2 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 71. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 58. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Wednesday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 78. East wind around 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.

Wednesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 55. East wind around 5 mph.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 82. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph.

Thursday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78.

Friday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 57.

Saturday

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 78.

Saturday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 55.

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 58.

Memorial Day

Mostly sunny, with a high near 83.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with November 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.”

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 normal	Precipitation
2023-04-01	81	57	69	9.5	0.5
2023-04-02	72	48	60	0.3	0
2023-04-03	59	54	56.5	-3.4	0.12
2023-04-04	78	57	67.5	7.3	T
2023-04-05	87	65	76	15.6	0
2023-04-06	83	69	76	15.3	0
2023-04-07	79	52	65.5	4.6	0.12
2023-04-08	52	44	48	-13.2	0.87
2023-04-09	66	44	55	-6.4	T
2023-04-10	66	46	56	-5.7	0
2023-04-11	73	46	59.5	-2.4	0
2023-04-12	78	48	63	0.8	0
2023-04-13	65	55	60	-2.5	0.79
2023-04-14	71	61	66	3.3	0.1
2023-04-15	80	58	69	6	0
2023-04-16	74	56	65	1.8	0.08
2023-04-17	71	47	59	-4.5	0
2023-04-18	80	49	64.5	0.7	0
2023-04-19	83	54	68.5	4.5	0
2023-04-20	84	59	71.5	7.2	0
2023-04-21	79	59	69	4.4	0
2023-04-22	71	55	63	-1.8	0.03
2023-04-23	71	51	61	-4.1	0
2023-04-24	69	50	59.5	-5.9	T
2023-04-25	74	47	60.5	-5.1	0
2023-04-26	62	56	59	-6.9	T
2023-04-27	62	55	58.5	-7.7	0.4
2023-04-28	79	60	69.5	3.1	T
2023-04-29	74	57	65.5	-1.2	0.21
2023-04-30	73	53	63	-4	1.15

Almanac for Atlanta Area, GA May 23, 2023

Daily Data	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Max Temperature	M	83	95 in 1941	56 in 1967
Min Temperature	M	63	72 in 2019	40 in 1883
Avg Temperature	M	73.0	83.0 in 1941	52.5 in 1892
Precipitation	M	0.11	3.03 in 1980	0.00 in 2021
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.0 in 2022	0.0 in 2022
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2022	0 in 2022
HDD (base 65)	M	0	12 in 1892	0 in 2022
CDD (base 65)	M	8	18 in 1941	0 in 2002
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	78.5	80.2	85.5 in 1962	71.5 in 1954
Avg Min Temperature	62.1	60.2	65.7 in 1899	51.0 in 1954
Avg Temperature	70.3	70.2	75.3 in 1899	61.2 in 1954
Total Precipitation	1.56	2.60	9.72 in 2003	0.19 in 1881
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.0	T in 1953	0.0 in 2023
Max Snow Depth	0	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
Total HDD (base 65)	21	20	110 in 1917	0 in 2018
Total CDD (base 65)	144	140	245 in 1899	22 in 1954
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	68.8	65.8	70.3 in 2017	58.3 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	50.2	45.8	50.5 in 2017	38.4 in 1940
Avg Temperature	59.5	55.8	60.4 in 2017	48.8 in 1940
Total Precipitation	20.92	20.23	36.20 in 1929	9.70 in 1986
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	0.1	2.2	10.9 in 1936	0.0 in 2019
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	8 in 1940	0 in 2023
Total HDD (since July 1)	1932	2528	3832 in 1977	1690 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	259	223	373 in 2012	60 in 1973
	Period of Record: Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-05-22 Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2023-05-22 Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2023-05-22 Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2023-05-21 Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2023-05-21

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.”