The Atlanta area got its second snowfall of the season on Friday, as a winter storm moved across the south. The snow began falling around 1:30 PM with wet, heavy flakes that immediately began sticking to the grass, and eventually the roads. Overnight, the weather cleared and the temperatures dropped, providing residents with a beautiful winter morning typically seen on Christmas cards.

Snowfall totals in Georgia from the February 12th storm include 3.6 inches in Atlanta and 4.5 inches in Athens. The heaviest snow appeared to be in Henry County, with 6 inches. Other reports around Georgia include Savannah with .9 inches and Metter with 2 inches. Charleston, SC reported 3.3 inches of snow.

This morning, there is snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 states, which may be an all time record, according to the AP. People in Hawaii are scouring the tops of mountains there, looking for traces of snow in the only state not reporting snow on the ground. Here is a map of snow cover as of Friday Saturday afternoon:

With temperatures expected to reach over 40 degrees this afternoon, much of Atlanta’s winter wonderland will melt. But, there’s a possibility of yet more snow on Sunday or Monday. Enjoy the snow while you can.

The weather news this weekend is the predicted record-breaking snow in the Baltimore-Washington area. Atlantans are famous for stocking up on bread and toilet paper whenever the white stuff is predicted to fall, but apparently it’s just as bad in DC, except there they are stocking up on bottled water and liquor.

And then there’s this forecast:

A three foot snowstorm is never a lot of fun – especially when last week’s snow is still on the ground. In 1077, I was living in Meadville, Pennsylvania, which is about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh. We got three feet of snow over a two day period, and I had to walk to work in it (or maybe it was wade to work in it). At the time, I was working as a newscaster on the local radio station. ABC radio news called from New York for a snow report. I think that was the only time I ever made an appearance on a national radio news broadcast.

As of 11 PM, it looks like snowfall between 4 and 18 inches has been reported in the Virginia/DC/Maryland/West Virginia area. The show is expected to last through Saturday night.

It seems like the cold weather just doesn’t want to go away. With the turn of the new year, the weather pattern changed as well, with high pressure systems over the Plains states and off of New England forming an opening between to allow unusually cold air to sweep southward. Mix that with a non-existent southern jet stream, and the cold moves across the eastern seaboard.

The map to the right shows the low temperatures across the country on January 9th. For the first ten days of the month, the mean temperature I’ve recorded here is 27.5 degrees–below the normal low for this time of year, which should be 33. The mean temperature for the same period in 2009 was 49.9.

We haven’t seen record cold, though. The lowest temperature I recorded here through the period was 13.5, last seen on January 16, 2009. The 13.9 chiller ties the record for the coldest temperature my thermometer has measured over the last eight years. Official records from Atlanta Hartsfield put the low records for the first ten days of the month in the single digits.

The good news (if there is any) is that with the extremely cold temperatures, we didn’t get a lot of precipitation. The snow on Thursday amounted to less than half an inch in my yard. Panic, school closings and shortages of bread and milk all occurred, but that’s par for Atlanta. I don’t know how much liquid precipitation fell on Thursday–snow and my rain gauge don’t play well together–but it was the longest stretch without rain since the latter part of November.

Elsewhere, heavy snow and cold led to snowplows being thwarted in the Midwest, and even snow flurries reported in Miami yesterday by the National Weather Service:

BY THE WAY…COUPLE TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FEW SNOW FLURRIES IN THE WEST BOYTON BEACH… AND A FEW SMALL ICE PELLETS IN PALM BEACH THIS EVENING WITH THE RAIN SHOWERS. ANOTHER TRAINED STORM SPOTTER IN BROWARD COUNTY REPORTED A FEW FLURRIES IN OAKLAND PARK WITH THE LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS EARLY THIS EVENING…ALONG WITH A TRAINED SPOTTER IN MIAMI-DADE COUNTY REPORTING A FEW FLURRIES WITH SOME SLEET JUST SOUTHEAST OF TOWN AND COUNTY MALL.

It has been interesting to watch the forecasts over the past few days. Earlier last week, forecasts were predicting 50 degree temperatures today. It got up to 34. By Thursday, it’s supposed to be in the upper 50s. Want to bet it gets there? The models used to forecast upcoming weather assume that cold spells in the southeast are somewhat short-lived, so they try to get back to normal temperatures fairly quickly. This bias is what causes predictions of an earlier than actual warmup.

It will warm up. The North American Oscillation, which is a good indicator of temperatures on the east coast is trending positive, and the 6-10 and 8-14 day forecasts call for warmer than normal temperatures in the southeast. But, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another one or two rounds of colder than normal temperatures before winter ends in March.

And of course, when it finally does warm up by next weekend, what are we going to get? Significant rainfall and a chance of flooding. But that’s a topic for another post. And for those that asked I will try to post more. Blame the holidays and a busy schedule.

With October now in the history books, it’s pretty clear that north Georgia had its second very wet month in a row. Athens reported 9.14 inches of precipitation, with only 1937 being wetter, with 11.23 inches. In Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson airport recorded 8.71 inches, with only 1995′s Hurricane Opal bring more October rain than last month, with 11.04 inches.

Here in Lawrenceville, I recorded 7.47 inches, in Gainesville, they had 11.2 inches or rain, with Macon and Columbus still top-ten wet, with 6.37 and 6.39 inches of precipitation, respectively. Even more of an eye-opener is the two month totals for September and October, shown graphically below:

The two month period saw 17.65 inches of rain fall in Atlanta, second only to 1888, when 18.25 inches fell. Both Athens and Macon had their wettest September and October ever, with 19 inches in Athens and 17.05 inches of rain in Macon. Columbus had it’s third wettest September-October with 11.69 inches, and in Lawrenceville, which received some of the heaviest rainfall in the September flooding, I recorded 23.3 inches for the period.

Usually heavy late-summer rain is brought about via tropical storms or hurricanes affecting Georgia, but not this year. (This season has had the least tropical activity since 1997, with one month to go before it ends). And of course the one benefit to all the rain is that it returned Lake Lanier to full pool, marking a recovery from the drought.

October also proved to be cooler than normal for North Georgia. Atlanta’s average temperature of 61 degrees was 1.9 degrees cooler than normal, while in Athens, the average of 60.7 degrees was 1.1 degree less than normal. Here in Lawrenceville, I recorded an average of 59 degrees, cooler still.

It looks like we’ll have a chance to dry out during the first two weeks of November, though, and perhaps see temperatures a bit warmer than normal for mid-Autumn. The short term forecast is for dry weather, while the 6-10 and 8-14 day forecasts are also calling for warm and dry. For the month as a whole, the Climate Prediction center calls for a 33% chance of drier than normal conditions, and equal chances of above or below normal temperatures.

Enjoy November, because the winter forecasts from December through February I’ve seen are almost unanimous in their call for a cold, wet winter.

It’s starting to feel like we really are making up for all that missing rainfall from the drought. Today’s rainfall here in Lawrenceville of 2.52 inches brings the total rain for October here to 4.55 inches — more than an inch above what would be expected for the entire month. It’s the wettest October in at least five years.

Atlanta set a new rainfall record for October 12th today, with 2.5 inches. That makes the yearly rainfall for Hartsfield Airport to 50.68 inches. Normal annual rain for Atlanta is 50.2 inches, so we’ve met that milestone with nearly a quarter of the year to go. Athens also set a rainfall record for the day with 3.83 inches. The previous October 12 rainfall record for both cities was set in 1994. Lake Lanier is now at 1070.58 feet above sea level, having gained over half a foot during the day. The lake is now less than half a foot from full pool, although it would take a lake level of 1085 feet before it would be considered flooded. The last time Lanier was at full pool was in September, 2005.

Flooding is occurring, though. Suwanee Creek in Suwanee is at 9.79 feet, with flooding beginning at 8 feet. Big Creek in Alpharetta and the Chattahoochee River in Vinings are also at flood stage. I saw where the Yellow River had escaped its banks into the flood plain in my area.

Unfortunately, it looks like we’re up for more rain on Wednesday. After a relatively pleasant day tomorrow, the rain will return, and according to the latest estimate from the Weather Service, shown at right, we could have another two to two and a half inches through Thursday evening, with higher amounts in the northeast Georgia mountains. If that scenario does pan out, expect more possible flooding, since the ground will be even more saturated than when the rain started this morning.

Once all the rain does go away on Friday, we will be in for some cooler weather over the weekend. The cold Canadian air that has brought an early Winter to much of the Plains states is moving east. Right now, overnight temperatures for the weekend are predicted to be in the mid 40s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up a bit lower than that.

Speaking of cold in the west, I’ve got to take note of the fact that in Denver, Colorado, temperatures dropped to a chilly 18 degrees Saturday morning, and didn’t get out of the 20s, forcing the cancellation of the third game of the baseball playoffs. The low temperature was the coldest it’s been so early in the season in Denver. Temperatures also dropped below the freezing mark this morning in Chicago. It was 34 in Dayton, Ohio and 28 in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Sunday morning. Record cold temperatures were felt in Montana, and the cold in Idaho may make it difficult for farmers in Idaho to harvest their potato crop.

It doesn’t look like things are going to get much better in Georgia at least through the end of the month. The 6-10 and 8-14 day forecasts call for continued chances of above normal precipitation, and colder than normal temperatures in the 6-10 day period. Long-range winter forecasts call for a cold and wet winter in the southeast, a topic I’ll try to cover in more detail later in the week.

Now that September is over, we can look back at a month that will be remembered for plenty of rain. Of course, it all depended on where you were: Gwinnett, Cobb and Douglas counties received far more precipitation than did the official measuring station at Hartsfield Airport. Still, it was the fifth wettest September on record in Atlanta, with 8.94 inches, or 219% of normal. It was the third wettest September in Macon with 10.68 inches, or 328% of normal, and the fourth wettest in Athens, with 9.86 inches, or 279% of normal rainfall.

At my house in Lawrenceville, I recorded 16.28 inches of rain, or 427% of normal rain. Gainesville reported 12.10 inches of rain, or 275% of normal, and Peachtree DeKalb airport had 15.74 inches of precipitation, or 420% of normal. The image above graphically displays the month’s rainfall. Click on it to enlarge.

Cooler than normal temperatures early in the month were balanced out with warmer than normal temperatures later on, ending up with a more or less normal average temperature for September. Atlanta’s mean temperature was 73.4 degrees, two tenths of a degree above normal. In Gainesville, the average of 71.0 degrees was 0.7 degrees cooler than normal, and in Athens, temperatures were half a degree above normal, with 73.1.

By now, even the most cynical will have to admit that the drought that plagued Georgia from 2006-2008 is finally over. A recent study by Columbia University indicated the drought wasn’t caused by global warming, and in fact wasn’t that unusual. The study says that the drought appeared more serious this time because of the Atlanta region’s growing population. While there was enough water for the region during similar droughts in the 1950s, not enough additional water storage was available to meet needs this time.

Much of the southeast US has been caught up in a blocking pattern over the past few days, with an upper level low pressure system stuck over the Mississippi/Louisiana area causing wet, tropical air to be brought up from the Gulf of Mexico. While there’s no tropical storm bringing in all this precipitation, the effects are much the same.

In fact, the three day total rainfall I’ve recorded at my home of 4.45 inches is the largest three day total since exactly five years ago on September 16-17, 2004, when 4.73 inches of rain fell as the remnants of Hurricane Ivan came through the state. And it’s possible that we’ll get even more rain later today to beat that record.

Rainfall amounts are varying widely across north Georgia. While I don’t yet have official readings for today, yesterday, Atlanta recorded .76 inches of rain, while I received 2.23 inches. Other areas with a lot of rain yesterday include Chamblee with 1.99 inches and Charlie Brown field with 1.16 inches.

Unfortunately, the rain is going to stick around through the weekend and possibly into the first part of next week before we get to a dry spell. With the ground already saturated from rain, much of Georgia from the Atlanta metro area south has been placed in a flood watch until Saturday morning. As of now, there are no reports of flooding, but it’s certainly possible.

Extremely unusual weather for mid-July has broken low temperature records around the state, with much of Georgia seeing late September like weather during what is normally the warmest stretch of the year.

On Sunday, Atlanta tied a record low of 63 degrees, set in 1967. The low in Athens of 58 beat the prior record of 62 set in 1925. In Columbus, it was 62 degrees Sunday morning, breaking the previous low of 66, set in 1987. And in Macon, a low of 58 beat the old record of 61, set in 1967.

Monday morning’s low of 61 in Atlanta tied the previous record, set in 1946. In Athens, a low of 60 degrees broke the almost 100 year low record of 61, set in 1910. In Columbus, a low of 64 also tied the previous record, set in 1946. And in Macon, a low of 61 beat the previous low of 62, set in 1987.

There’s another chance for record lows tomorrow morning before the weather starts returning to normal during the latter part of the week. A stationary front located near the Georgia-Florida border is keeping the normal summertime humidity from the Gulf coast from moving north, and the exceptionally dry air is letting daytime heat escape into the clear night skies.

The normal high for July 20th is 88 degrees, and the normal low is 70.

The last three weeks or so have been exceptionally dry around my house, with less than 1/4 inch of precipitation since the last real rainfall back on June 10th. Although it rained in Duluth, downtown Lawrenceville and along US 78, not a drop reached here.

According to the weather service, there was .23 inches of rain at Hartsfield Airport yesterday, .54 inches at Peachtree DeKalb in Chamblee, .18 inches of rain at Charlie Brown Field in west Atlanta and only .01 inches in Marietta. While the amounts may vary, I’ve seen similar situations over the last few weeks when popup thunderstorms have ringed around metro Atlanta, bringing rain to some, but not all.

After getting above normal rain in May (normal for Atlanta in may is 3.95 inches; Atlanta got 4.54 inches) June ended up being warmer and drier than normal. Normally Atlanta gets 3.63 inches of rain in June, this year, 2.34 inches fell. The average temperature in June of 79.8 degrees was three degrees above normal.

July is normally one of the wettest months of the year, with an average of 5.12 inches of precipitation in Atlanta. This number may be skewed a bit because tropical storms can bring a lot of rain in a short period of time. The random nature of thundershowers can also skew the numbers. For example, last year, Hartsfield Airport recorded 7.17 inches of July rainfall, while 2.5 inches fell in Lawrenceville. On the other hand, in 2007, I recorded 5.53 inches of July precipitation, while only 1.85 inches of rain fell in Atlanta.

Be glad you’re not in New York City. Look at this report from the Weather Service in New York:

DUE TO THE UNUSUALLY COOL AND WET CONDITIONS IN JUNE…HERE ARE SOME INTERESTING FACTS TO NOTE:

THIS JUNE IS TIED FOR THE 8TH COOLEST ON RECORD. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 67.5…3.7 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL…WHICH ALSO OCCURRED IN 1897.

THIS WAS THE COOLEST JUNE SINCE 1958…WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 67.2 DEGREES.

BELOW AVERAGE TEMPERATURES OCCURRED ON 23 OUT OF 30 DAYS THIS JUNE…OR 75 PERCENT OF THE MONTH.

CENTRAL PARK HAS NOT HIT 90 DEGREES IN THE MONTH OF JUNE THIS YEAR. THE LAST TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS BACK IN 1996.

CENTRAL PARK HAS NOT HIT 85 DEGREES IN THE MONTH OF JUNE THIS YEAR. THE LAST TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS BACK IN 1916. THIS HAS ONLY OCCURRED 2 OTHER TIMES…1903 AND 1886.

THE LAST TIME THAT CENTRAL PARK HIT 90 OR GREATER THIS YEAR WAS IN APRIL. THE LAST TIME THAT CENTRAL PARK HIT 90 IN APRIL…BUT NOT IN JUNE WAS BACK IN 1990.

THE LAST TIME THAT CENTRAL PARK HIT 85 OR GREATER THIS YEAR WAS IN MAY. THE LAST TIME THAT CENTRAL PARK HIT 85 IN MAY…BUT NOT IN JUNE WAS BACK IN 1903. THE LAST TIME THAT CENTRAL PARK HIT 85 IN
APRIL…BUT NOT IN JUNE WAS ALSO BACK IN 1903.

THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE REACHED IN CENTRAL PARK IN THE MONTH OF JUNE WAS 50 DEGREES. THE LAST TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS BACK IN 2003.

THE LOW TEMPERATURE DIPPED BELOW 60 DEGREES 11 TIMES IN THE MONTH OF JUNE. THE LAST TIME THIS OCCURRED WAS IN 2003 WHEN IT OCCURRED 17 TIMES.

IT WAS THE SECOND WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD WITH 10.06 INCHES OF RAIN. THE WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD IS 2003 WITH 10.27 INCHES.

THERE WERE 19 DAYS THIS JUNE WHERE THERE WAS AT LEAST 0.01 INCHES OF RAINFALL. THIS HAS NEVER OCCURRED IN CENTRAL PARK.

AT LEAST A TRACE OF RAINFALL WAS REPORTED ON 23 OUT OF 30 DAYS THIS JUNE.

North Georgia got a big dent in the drought on Tuesday, as a front sat over the northern part of the state bringing in much needed rainfall, most of it north of metro Atlanta. Click on the picture to the right to see a map of rainfall totals in North Georgia, courtesy of the National Weather Service.

Let’s take a look at some of the reported rainfall between 7 AM Monday and 7 AM Wednesday:

Athens: 1.63 inches
Atlanta Hartsfield: 1.75 inches
Cartersville: 4.08 inches
Gainesville: 4.71 inches
Marietta: 1.74 inches
Chamblee: 1.99 inches
Rome: 5.8 inches
Atlanta Charlie Brown: 2.13 inches

In addition, the following rain amounts were reported from 12 AM Monday until 11:59 PM Tuesday; it’s likely that these locations received some more rain overnight:

Alpharetta: 2.84 inches
Blairsville: 2.68 inches
Blue Ridge: 4.55 inches
Dahlonega: 3.48 inches
Ellijay: 3.14 inches
Johns Creek: 1.37 inches
Tiger: 2.55 inches

The precipitation brought some flooding to Big Creek in Alpharetta, and the Etowah River near Canton. Additional flooding was reported near Ellijay. The rain did wonders for the water level on Lake Lanier, which rose from 1053.3 feet at Buford Dam on Monday night to 155.06 feet as of this 7:15 morning, a rise of 1.76 feet, or about 1 foot 8 inches. The lake is likely to continue to fill over the next few days; you can see the current lake levels here.