Posted on 12/26/2010 7:26:30 PM PST by Signalman
Atlanta and the Southeast were hit with a rare Christmas snowstorm Saturday. The winter weather is also affecting the Northeast, causing flight cancellations and delaying homeward trips for Atlantans on holiday. Below is a look at the current weather, Sunday road situation and travel impact. Check back for updates.
ROADS: Sunday, DOT crews were on metro Atlanta roadways looking for trouble spots and spreading a salt-sand mixture where needed, and a crew was working at Northside Drive near the Georgia Dome, DOT spokesman Mark McKinnon said. There were no reports of major incidents, McKinnon said.
AIRPORT: Travelers trying to return home from the Northeast can expect delays into Monday. "We expect more cancellations tomorrow morning, primarily in New York and Boston," Delta Air Lines spokesman Kent Landers told the AJC on Sunday evening. He said the weather in Atlanta was not the problem. Ten to 15 inches of snow are supposed to fall in the New York City area from Sunday morning through Monday night, with the entire corridor from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia and Boston expected to get hit hard. Delta canceled flights to and from the Northeast. System-wide, 850 flights were canceled, Landers said. He could not say how many Atlanta flights were canceled, but said bumped passengers or those at risk of being bumped can reschedule without a fee through midweek. AirTran canceled 92 Sunday flights, including 33 to or from Atlanta, spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver said. Travelers are encouraged to call the airport to check on the status of their flights before departing.
WEATHER: Forecasters expect it to keep snowing Sunday night though no more accumulation is expected, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist David Chandley told the AJC. The temperature will fall sharply -- into the 20s in Atlanta and into the teens in the suburbs -- before the sun rises Monday. The daytime temperature is expected to rise only into the high 30s Monday. It'll get warmer with each passing day, reaching the 40s Tuesday and the 50s Wednesday, Chandley said. The snowfall that began Saturday morning deposited 1.2 inches in Atlanta, making this the first white Christmas since 1882, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz said. Generally in the north and northwest metro area, 2 to 3 inches of snow fell. From Atlanta to the south saw 1 to 2 inches. The north Georgia mountains had widespread snow of 5 to 6 inches, and even 7 inches in Suches, Nitz said.
CLOSINGS: Several churches were closed Sunday morning and some delayed services were reported. List of closings.
POWER: Sunday afternoon, the electric membership cooperatives reported approximately 150 members still without power in extreme north Georgia. Crews worked throughout the day and restored service to approximately 6,000 customers. The work will continue Sunday evening. Efforts have been delayed in some cases since it has been difficult to reach some areas due to "treacherous road conditions." Outages have been caused by heavy snow weighing down tree limbs and causing them to fall on power lines.
HISTORIC SNOW: The flurries began in Cobb County about 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Within 15 minutes, it was snowing hard, and a light dusting was noticeable on grassy surfaces. At 12:30 p.m., it was still snowing hard and the ground was nearly covered with about a quarter-inch of accumulation, although the snow was still melting on the neighborhood roads.
While the metro area did receive a brief smattering of flurries in 1993, none of it stuck. Nearly a third of an inch was measured 128 years ago, a record that's stood ever since.
--Staff writers Ty Tagami, Christian Boone, Angel K . Brooks, Mike Morris and George Mathis contributed to this report.
I noticed that while the Jacksonville Jaguars were at home playing the Deadskins, the coaches were all wearing parkas and ski gloves. Pretty dang cold.
The deadskins helped the jets...:).
For sure this will spell the end of the whole Global Warming fiasco. Certainly the libs won’t even be able to argue the case after this winter’s events.
I just want to know where is Al Gore? Where is he hiding?
Where's My Global Warming!
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