The National Weather Service forecasts mostly cloudy skies here in Cobb County on Saturday, February 17, 2024, with a steady temperature around 42 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to flood warnings that continues for portions of the Oconee, Ocmulgee, and Flint rivers.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Today

Mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 42. Northwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. 

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 28. Northwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. 

Sunday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Northwest wind 5 to 10 mph. 

Sunday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 29. Northwest wind around 5 mph. 

Washington’s Birthday

Widespread frost before 9 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 58. Northwest wind around 5 mph. 

Monday Night

Widespread frost, mainly after 5 a.m. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 31.

Tuesday

Widespread frost, mainly before 8 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 60.

Tuesday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 36.

Wednesday

Sunny, with a high near 66.

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 48.

Thursday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 69.

Thursday Night

A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46.

Friday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly sunny, with a high near 57.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with January 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
2024-01-01	50	34	42	-3.1	0
2024-01-02	54	30	42	-3	0
2024-01-03	47	31	39	-5.9	0.03
2024-01-04	53	34	43.5	-1.3	0
2024-01-05	53	32	42.5	-2.2	0.17
2024-01-06	51	39	45	0.3	0.7
2024-01-07	51	36	43.5	-1.1	T
2024-01-08	52	33	42.5	-2.1	0.44
2024-01-09	54	40	47	2.5	2.75
2024-01-10	51	37	44	-0.5	0
2024-01-11	62	35	48.5	4	0
2024-01-12	56	42	49	4.5	0.22
2024-01-13	50	31	40.5	-4	0
2024-01-14	58	30	44	-0.5	0
2024-01-15	61	42	51.5	7	0
2024-01-16	46	18	32	-12.5	0.4
2024-01-17	39	13	26	-18.5	0
2024-01-18	51	24	37.5	-7	0
2024-01-19	48	27	37.5	-7.1	0.02
2024-01-20	32	17	24.5	-20.1	0
2024-01-21	41	14	27.5	-17.2	0
2024-01-22	50	27	38.5	-6.2	0
2024-01-23	52	41	46.5	1.7	0.05
2024-01-24	63	48	55.5	10.6	0.09
2024-01-25	72	61	66.5	21.5	1.1
2024-01-26	69	60	64.5	19.4	0
2024-01-27	66	57	61.5	16.3	0.46
2024-01-28	56	44	50	4.7	T
2024-01-29	54	39	46.5	1.1	0
2024-01-30	61	33	47	1.4	T
2024-01-31	56	40	48	2.3	T

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, February 17, 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	59	77 in 2018	22 in 1958
Min Temperature	M	39	60 in 1891	5 in 1958
Avg Temperature	M	49.0	67.5 in 1891	13.5 in 1958
Precipitation	M	0.17	1.75 in 1879	0.00 in 2017
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.2 in 1979	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 1969	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	16	51 in 1958	0 in 1976
CDD (base 65)	M	0	3 in 1891	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	62.4	56.9	67.8 in 1990	33.2 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	43.8	37.7	50.9 in 1927	20.5 in 1895
Avg Temperature	53.1	47.3	58.7 in 1927	26.9 in 1895
Total Precipitation	3.48	2.71	8.73 in 1881	0.03 in 1938
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.2	4.0 in 1934	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1934	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	187	301	644 in 1895	106 in 1927
Total CDD (base 65)	0	0	8 in 1957	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	56.6	55.0	63.2 in 1950	42.0 in 1905
Avg Min Temperature	38.1	36.4	45.7 in 1950	21.5 in 1977
Avg Temperature	47.3	45.7	54.4 in 1950	32.2 in 1977
Total Precipitation	9.91	7.30	18.29 in 1936	1.89 in 1938
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	1.6	8.9 in 1936	0.0 in 2019
Max Snow Depth (since July 1)	0	–	8 in 1940	0 in 2024
Total HDD (since July 1)	1618	1918	3241 in 1977	1294 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	0	12 in 1932	0 in 2021

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-16
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-16
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-02-16
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-16
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-16

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.”