The National Weather Service forecasts mostly cloudy skies here in Cobb County on Sunday, March 3, 2024, with a high near 68 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to areas of dense fog with visibilities of one quarter mile or less that will continue to affect northern and central Georgia through 9 a.m Sunday.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Sunday

Areas of dense fog before 10 a.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 68. Calm wind becoming southeast around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Sunday Night

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

Monday

Partly sunny, with a high near 72. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Monday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56. East wind 5 to 10 mph.

Tuesday

A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 70.

Tuesday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Low around 57. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent.

Wednesday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 70. Chance of precipitation is 40 percent.

Wednesday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 51.

Thursday

Partly sunny, with a high near 72.

Thursday Night

A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.

Friday

Showers likely. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Friday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Saturday

A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 65.

What was the climate like in the latest reporting period?

The NWS climate summary for metro Atlanta has now been updated with February 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
2024-02-01	63	33	48	2.2	0
2024-02-02	70	41	55.5	9.5	0
2024-02-03	62	46	54	7.8	0
2024-02-04	50	42	46	-0.3	0.51
2024-02-05	59	42	50.5	4	0.07
2024-02-06	65	40	52.5	5.8	0
2024-02-07	59	37	48	1.1	0
2024-02-08	56	39	47.5	0.4	0
2024-02-09	63	47	55	7.7	0
2024-02-10	66	56	61	13.5	0.06
2024-02-11	68	60	64	16.3	0.59
2024-02-12	61	49	55	7.1	2.25
2024-02-13	57	41	49	0.9	T
2024-02-14	66	37	51.5	3.2	0
2024-02-15	69	41	55	6.5	0
2024-02-16	65	50	57.5	8.7	0
2024-02-17	57	36	46.5	-2.5	0.01
2024-02-18	53	31	42	-7.2	0
2024-02-19	62	39	50.5	1	0
2024-02-20	62	37	49.5	-0.2	0
2024-02-21	66	38	52	2	0
2024-02-22	70	44	57	6.8	0
2024-02-23	68	54	61	10.6	0.18
2024-02-24	66	43	54.5	3.8	0
2024-02-25	64	34	49	-1.9	0
2024-02-26	73	44	58.5	7.3	0
2024-02-27	73	56	64.5	13.1	T
2024-02-28	75	44	59.5	7.8	0.22
2024-02-29	53	38	45.5	-6.3	0

Climate Almanac for metro Atlanta

This almanac provides information on past climate conditions for today’s date, March 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	62	80 in 2022	34 in 1960
Min Temperature	M	43	64 in 1899	11 in 1980
Avg Temperature	M	52.4	71.0 in 1899	29.5 in 1960
Precipitation	M	0.16	1.98 in 1934	0.00 in 2022
Snowfall	M	0.1	T in 2016	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 1980	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	13	35 in 1960	0 in 2023
CDD (base 65)	M	0	6 in 1899	0 in 2021
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	55.5	62.0	78.7 in 1976	36.0 in 1890
Avg Min Temperature	41.0	42.3	60.7 in 1997	17.3 in 1980
Avg Temperature	48.3	52.2	69.5 in 1997	28.3 in 1890
Total Precipitation	1.11	0.50	4.62 in 1971	0.00 in 2022
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.1	4.2 in 2009	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1942	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	33	39	109 in 1890	0 in 2023
Total CDD (base 65)	0	1	14 in 1997	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	58.2	56.4	63.8 in 2017	45.0 in 1905
Avg Min Temperature	38.9	37.5	46.0 in 2023	24.3 in 1977
Avg Temperature	48.6	46.9	54.9 in 2023	35.8 in 1977
Total Precipitation	11.43	9.64	20.03 in 2020	3.09 in 1938
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	1.9	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)	1802	2132	3477 in 1977	1387 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	3	35 in 2023	0 in 2020

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-02
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-02
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-03-02
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-01
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-01

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.”