Coldest weather of the season for Athens, north Ga?

Forecasters say Athens and northeast Georgia, which saw temperatures in the 80s a week ago, will see the mercury plunge into the law 20s over the weekend, with some of the coldest weather of the season and the possibility of snow in the north Georgia mountains.

From Christina Edwards, WSB Radio...

Cold air will rush into the Southeast this weekend as rain scoots northeast towards the Eastern Seaboard.

Enough cold air will reach the state of Georgia in time to convert some of the rain showers into a wintry mix, with snow flurries as far south as the north Metro Atlanta region. The transition from rain showers to snow flurries is likely between 4am and 7am Saturday, with the transition line occurring in the purple line below from Paulding to Bartow to Pickens Counties.

Snow accumulations will be rather light and limited to North Georgia. Up to half an inch of accumulation is possible throughout Polk, Floyd, Bartow, Cherokee, and extreme northern Paulding and Cobb Counties.

However, the wintry precipitation won’t stay long! Clouds will thin out by 12pm, and sunshine will evaporate any snowfall that occurs in North Georgia.

However, the cold air surging in via the northwest wind will be intense! Afternoon highs will struggle to stay in the upper 30s on Saturday, and winds will gust as high as 35 to 40 mph.

As a result, wind chills will be in the 20s -- even in the sunshine!

Saturday’s afternoon highs will be close to a record low afternoon high -- the record low high for Saturday, March 12 is 39 degrees, set in 1960.

Temperatures will continue to fall into the low to mid 20s on Sunday morning, which is hard freeze territory! This will be close to the record low temperature for Sunday, March 13, which is 19 degrees set back in 1932.

Be sure to protect any sensitive plants that have already been placed in the ground. Be sure to bring inside houseplants, pets, and leave the faucets running overnight into Sunday afternoon.

Morning lows will gradually thaw to the 40s next week, and afternoon highs will rise into the 60s.

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