The National Weather Service forecasts showers here in Cobb County on Friday, March 22, 2024, with a high near 58 degrees.

The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather outlook for Cobb County and other parts of the region due to widespread rainfall and isolated thunderstorms that will overspread north and central Georgia today and tonight. 

What does the extended forecast have in store?

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

Today

Showers, mainly after 1 p.m. High near 58. East wind 10 to 15 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.

Tonight

Showers. Patchy fog before 3 a.m, then patchy fog after 4 a.m. Low around 51. East wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New precipitation amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.

Saturday

Showers likely, mainly before 1 p.m. Patchy fog before 10 a.m. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 65. North wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Saturday Night

Mostly clear, with a low around 37. North wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Sunday

Sunny, with a high near 67. North wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph.

Sunday Night

Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.

Monday

Partly sunny, with a high near 62.

Monday Night

A 30 percent chance of showers after 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48.

Tuesday

Showers likely, mainly after 8 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 63. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Tuesday Night

Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 49. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.

Wednesday

A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 64.

Wednesday Night

A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly clear, with a low around 42.

Thursday

Sunny, with a high near 66.

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 22, 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	68	87 in 1907	41 in 1915
Min Temperature	M	47	67 in 1907	25 in 1986
Avg Temperature	M	57.1	77.0 in 1907	33.0 in 1915
Precipitation	M	0.15	1.83 in 1903	0.00 in 2023
Snowfall	M	0.1	T in 2013	0.0 in 2023
Snow Depth	M	–	0 in 2023	0 in 2023
HDD (base 65)	M	9	32 in 1915	0 in 2012
CDD (base 65)	M	1	12 in 1907	0 in 2023
Month-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	67.9	64.7	73.1 in 2012	44.1 in 1960
Avg Min Temperature	48.8	44.3	53.8 in 2012	27.3 in 1960
Avg Temperature	58.3	54.5	63.4 in 2012	35.7 in 1960
Total Precipitation	6.97	3.43	11.79 in 1880	0.45 in 2004
Total Snowfall	0.0	0.4	4.8 in 1960	0.0 in 2024
Max Snow Depth	0	–	4 in 1993	0 in 2024
Total HDD (base 65)	140	240	638 in 1960	83 in 1921
Total CDD (base 65)	5	10	69 in 2012	0 in 2014
Year-to-Date Summary	Observed	Normal	Record Highest	Record Lowest
Avg Max Temperature	60.8	58.4	63.8 in 2017	48.3 in 1895
Avg Min Temperature	41.4	39.2	46.1 in 1880	29.1 in 1977
Avg Temperature	51.1	48.8	54.5 in 2023	39.3 in 1940
Total Precipitation	17.29	12.57	29.03 in 1881	5.96 in 1898
Total Snowfall (since July 1)	T	2.2	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)	1909	2333	3671 in 1977	1612 in 2017
Total CDD (since Jan 1)	7	12	73 in 2012	0 in 2010

Period of Record:

• Max Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-21
• Min Temperature : 1878-10-04 to 2024-03-21
• Precipitation : 1878-10-01 to 2024-03-21
• Snowfall : 1928-12-25 to 2024-03-20
• 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.”