Athens, Alabama 7 Day Weather Forecast

Wx Forecast - Wx Discussion - Wx Aviation

254
FXUS62 KFFC 141941
AFDFFC

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Peachtree City GA
241 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026

...Afternoon Area Forecast Discussion...

.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 229 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026

 - Light snow showers are possible in the mountains between 7 PM
   and 5 AM with very limited accumulation potential (trace to
   0.5") across the highest elevations of north Georgia.

 - Much colder air and gusty winds will bring frigid wind chills
   ranging from near 0 to 15 degrees across north Georgia Thursday
   morning. A Cold Weather Advisory is in effect for the
   mountains of north Georgia.

 - Cool temperatures continue through the weekend into early next
   week, with mostly dry conditions.

 - There is potential for a winter storm system in the region
   Saturday night into Sunday, but there is VERY LOW confidence in
   the location and severity of impacts, IF ANY, at this time.

&&

.SHORT TERM...
(This afternoon through Thursday)
Issued at 229 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026

A strong cold front currently extending from the Arklatex
northward across western Tennessee and into the Ohio Valley is
rapidly crashing southeastward and will bring big changes tonight.
Initial light rain showers this morning associated with a
southern stream wave have quickly departed, and the focus now
turns to the aforementioned front. As has been much discussed over
the past several days, most of the light precipitation associated
with this system will come in the form of light rain showers
before coming to a quick end tonight. The best chance for a few
light snow showers remains across the mountains of far north
Georgia from late evening into the wee hours of Thursday morning
before dry air brings an end to things. Any accumulations will be
very limited and largely to the higher peaks above 2000 ft on the
order of a trace to perhaps a few spots around or just over 1/2".
Elsewhere, a few flurries will be possible overnight, even as far
south as parts of the Atlanta metro, but no impacts will occur. A
few isolated spots of black ice can`t be ruled out as the
subfreezing air rushes in overnight, but these should be limited
to secondary/less-traveled roadways more protected from the wind.
The gusty winds along with the limited precipitation totals should
prevent any more widespread concerns.

Otherwise, the main sensible impact will be the cold air combined
with the gusty northwest winds. Wind chill values will dip well
into the teens across the bulk of the area by Thursday morning
with single digits in some areas, especially the mountain
counties. It`s in these areas (Fannin, Union, and Towns counties)
where Cold Weather Advisory criteria are assuredly reached for
several hours Thursday morning, so a Cold Weather Advisory was
issued from 4-10 AM for these locations. Elsewhere, wind chills
will flirt with criteria in spots but will be limited temporally
and areally, so while conditions will certainly be cold, Cold
Weather Advisory criteria will largely be avoided.

Cold and breezy conditions will persist through the day on
Thursday. Highs will remain in the 30s for most of north Georgia
and 40s elsewhere, though wind chills will remain below freezing
across most of the area through the day. Winds will diminish
Thursday night, but surface high pressure centered over Florida
will bring effective radiational cooling. Lows will range from the
upper teens to low 20s for most areas by Friday morning.

&&

.LONG TERM...
(Friday morning through next Tuesday)
Issued at 229 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026

Potential Weekend Storm System:

Going to start out by addressing the elephant in the room, as
there has been a rather large shift in the ensemble guidance
regarding a system over the weekend, compared to what we were
looking at this time yesterday. Over 40% of this morning`s
ensemble guidance members are now showing a swath of winter
weather (snow or rain/snow mix) across portions of southern and
central GA Saturday night into Sunday morning, with about 20% of
members bringing the winter weather threat up into north GA. This
potential setup is tied to a shortwave trough that will be
tracking through the Southeast US, with the location of the track
and speed and strength of the system determining where winter
weather impacts (if any) would be. Unfortunately for us, this
setup is notorious for poor model agreement overall, as well as
run to run inconsistency. These issues are certainly true this far
in advance (~4 days), but will likely remain an issue until about
24-48hrs out. So, while our current forecast is going with the
majority of ensemble guidance (no winter weather impacts), it is
critical for residents of Georgia to pay attention to the
forecast, as there is potential for a storm system with
significant impacts.

Cold Through Early Next Week:

The aspect of the forecast that we have higher confidence in over
the weekend into early next week is that temperatures will remain
cooler than normal overall, courtesy of broad mid-level troughing
parked over the Eastern US. Lows on Friday morning will be in the
20s, with a bit of warm air briefly filtering in during the day
bringing highs in the upper 40s to low 50s. Another cold front
will approach the area Friday night into Saturday morning,
bringing light rain showers (some snow showers in the north GA
mountains), with another shot of cold air moving in behind it for
the rest of the weekend into early next week. From Saturday night
through Tuesday, overnight lows will generally be in the high
teens to mid 20s in north GA, and low to mid 20s in central GA.
Cold Weather Advisory criteria may be met some of these mornings.
High temps will generally be in the 30s to low 40s in north GA,
and 40s in central GA.

Lingering Fire Weather Concerns:

With several rounds of dry continental air dropping in through
early next week, relative humidity values will be a concern.
Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday could all see relative humidity
values fall below 25%, especially in central Georgia, and may
require Fire Danger Statements. The two positives, fire- wise, are
that temperatures will be below normal, and winds should remain
below 25 mph, so Red Flag conditions are unlikely.

&&

.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 1221 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026

A wide range of cigs currently exists at/near TAF sites ranging
from LIFR to VFR. In general, the trend should be for MVFR cigs to
be more commonplace through the afternoon with patchy IFR cigs
possible at times. -RA will increase in a band ahead of a strong
cold front, mainly 21-03Z at ATL area sites before quickly
diminishing. A rogue snow flurry is also possible 05-10Z at ATL
area sites, though probability is low with no accum or impacts.
Cigs increase back to VFR after 06Z at northern sites as dry air
quickly infiltrates. Winds increase from W to NW through evening
at 14-18 kts with gusts as high as 25-30 kts after 03Z.

//ATL Confidence...18Z Update...
Low to medium confidence on afternoon cigs.
Low confidence to see flurries at ATL area sites.
High confidence on winds.

RW

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Athens          26  38  21  49 /  20   0   0   0
Atlanta         24  37  25  51 /  30   0   0   0
Blairsville     16  29  14  44 /  40   0   0   0
Cartersville    22  37  20  52 /  30   0   0   0
Columbus        28  43  22  54 /  30   0   0   0
Gainesville     24  35  23  48 /  20   0   0   0
Macon           28  43  20  53 /  20   0   0   0
Rome            25  41  23  54 /  20   0   0   0
Peachtree City  23  39  20  52 /  30   0   0   0
Vidalia         33  45  23  54 /  10   0   0   0

&&

.FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Cold Weather Advisory from 4 AM to 10 AM EST Thursday for GAZ006-
008-009.

&&

$$

SHORT TERM...RW
LONG TERM....Culver
AVIATION...RW