The National Weather Service forecasts sunny skies here in Cobb County on Thursday, March 21, 2024, with a high near 74 degrees.

Tonight it is expected to be mostly cloudy, with an overnight low of around 52 degrees.

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Sunny, with a high near 74. Calm wind becoming east around 5 mph in the morning. 

Tonight

Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. East wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph. 

Friday

Showers, mainly after 2 p.m. High near 61. East wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible. 

Friday Night

Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2 a.m, then showers likely. Low around 52. East wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent.

Saturday

Showers likely, mainly before 8 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 66. North wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 39.

Sunday

Sunny, with a high near 66.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.

Monday

Mostly cloudy, with a high near 62.

Monday Night

A 40 percent chance of showers after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50.

Tuesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Tuesday Night

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Wednesday

Showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

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 21, 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	67	86 in 2017	37 in 1914
Min Temperature	M	46	62 in 1994	21 in 1965
Avg Temperature	M	56.8	74.0 in 1907	33.5 in 1986
Precipitation	M	0.14	3.14 in 1942	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.0	T in 1964	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	9	31 in 1986	0 in 2017
CDD (base 65)	M	1	9 in 1907	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	67.4	64.5	72.9 in 2012	43.1 in 1960
Avg Min Temperature	48.7	44.2	53.2 in 2012	27.1 in 1960
Avg Temperature	58.0	54.4	63.1 in 2012	35.1 in 1960
Total Precipitation	6.97	3.28	11.79 in 1880	0.45 in 2004
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.3	4.8 in 1960	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1993	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	139	232	621 in 1960	83 in 1921
Total CDD (base 65)	5	9	63 in 2012	0 in 2014
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	60.6	58.3	63.8 in 2017	48.2 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	41.3	39.1	46.1 in 1880	29.0 in 1977
Avg Temperature	50.9	48.7	54.4 in 2023	39.2 in 1940
Total Precipitation	17.29	12.42	28.73 in 1881	5.96 in 1898
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)	1908	2325	3651 in 1977	1608 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	7	11	67 in 2012	0 in 2010

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-20
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-20
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-03-20
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-19
• Snow Depth : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-19

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.”