The National Weather Service forecasts showers here in Cobb County on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, with a high near 71 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be partly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 33 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Wednesday

Showers, mainly after 3 p.m. High near 71. South wind 15 to 20 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. 

Wednesday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers before 7 p.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 33. Northwest wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 5 to 10 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph. 

Thursday

Mostly sunny, with a high near 57. Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon. 

Thursday Night

A 40 percent chance of showers after 1 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 40. East wind 5 to 15 mph. 

Friday

Showers. High near 48. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Friday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 10 p.m, then showers between 10 p.m and 4 a.m, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 4 a.m. Low around 44. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Saturday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

Saturday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51.

Sunday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.

Sunday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.

Monday

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 68.

Monday Night

A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 53.

Tuesday

A 40 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, 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 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 28, 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	62	80 in 2023	31 in 1934
Min Temperature	M	42	63 in 1997	13 in 1888
Avg Temperature	M	51.7	70.0 in 2023	25.5 in 1934
Precipitation	M	0.16	2.78 in 1882	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.0	0.3 in 1984	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	14	39 in 1934	0 in 2023
CDD (base 65)	M	0	5 in 2023	0 in 2022
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	63.4	58.2	66.5 in 2017	42.0 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	42.9	38.9	48.9 in 2018	26.8 in 1895
Avg Temperature	53.1	48.6	57.3 in 2018	34.4 in 1895
Total Precipitation	3.67	4.55	12.77 in 1961	0.56 in 1906
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.4	4.4 in 1979	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1979	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	314	463	851 in 1895	237 in 2018
Total CDD (base 65)	0	2	27 in 2023	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	58.1	56.0	63.7 in 2017	44.0 in 1905
Avg Min Temperature	38.7	37.2	45.3 in 2023	24.0 in 1977
Avg Temperature	48.4	46.6	54.2 in 2023	35.3 in 1940
Total Precipitation	10.10	9.14	19.24 in 1936	3.04 in 1938
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	1.8	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)	1745	2079	3419 in 1977	1356 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	2	28 in 2023	0 in 2020

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-27
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-02-27
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-02-27
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-27
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-02-24

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.”