The National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny skies here in Cobb County on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, with a high near 75 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to a Fire Danger Statement that is in effect through 8 p.m this evening due to low relative humidities and dry fuels for portions of far east and central Georgia. Portions of the Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Chattahoochee Rivers also remain in flood across central Georgia.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

Today

Mostly sunny, with a high near 75. Calm wind becoming west around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 48. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 79. Light east wind becoming south 5 to 10 mph in the afternoon.

Thursday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers after 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 57. South wind around 5 mph.

Friday

A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 8 a.m. High near 72. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Friday Night

A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 56.

Saturday

A 10 percent chance of showers before 8 a.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 71.

Saturday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers after 2 a.m. Partly cloudy, with a low around 53.

Sunday

A 40 percent chance of showers, mainly after 8 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 67.

Sunday Night

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 43.

Monday

Sunny, with a high near 57.

Monday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 32.

Tuesday

Sunny, with a high near 55.

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 13, 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	65	82 in 1990	36 in 1932
Min Temperature	M	45	62 in 2020	19 in 1932
Avg Temperature	M	54.9	70.0 in 1990	27.5 in 1932
Precipitation	M	0.16	2.02 in 1986	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.1	4.2 in 1993	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	1 in 1993	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	10	37 in 1932	0 in 2021
CDD (base 65)	M	0	5 in 2016	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	65.3	63.4	76.2 in 1974	39.5 in 1960
Avg Min Temperature	49.0	43.4	52.9 in 1997	23.8 in 1960
Avg Temperature	57.1	53.4	63.8 in 1997	31.7 in 1960
Total Precipitation	6.59	2.09	7.12 in 1909	0.04 in 1974
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.3	4.8 in 1960	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1942	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	91	155	430 in 1960	36 in 1997
Total CDD (base 65)	0	4	33 in 1955	0 in 2024
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	59.5	57.4	64.3 in 2023	46.9 in 1940
Avg Min Temperature	40.5	38.4	46.4 in 2023	26.9 in 1977
Avg Temperature	50.0	47.9	55.3 in 2023	37.8 in 1978
Total Precipitation	16.91	11.23	22.94 in 2020	4.48 in 1938
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	2.1	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)	1860	2248	3604 in 1977	1497 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	2	6	40 in 2023	0 in 2010

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-12
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-12
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-03-12
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-11
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-09

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.”