Georgians are waking up to a winter wonderland that is quickly turning treacherous. Snow began falling in far North Georgia early Saturday morning and is steadily pushing south toward Atlanta, bringing dangerous accumulations and bone-chilling temperatures that will make this weekend one to remember for all the wrong reasons.
Just one week after an ice storm forced residents to hunker down, Mother Nature is delivering another punch. This time, fluffy snow is piling up fast in some areas while the entire state braces for brutally cold wind chills that will plunge into the single digits and even below zero.
The National Weather Service projects peak snowfall between 7 a.m. Saturday and 4 a.m. Sunday as punishing Arctic air crashes into rain showers from the Gulf Coast. By 5:30 a.m., snow was already accumulating quickly in far northeast Georgia, with flakes reaching as far south as Gainesville and Augusta.
Winter storm warning blankets metro Atlanta
A winter storm warning covers Atlanta and much of the metro area, with forecasters warning that heavy snow could create hazardous conditions across major highways including Interstates 75, 85 and 20. Within the I-285 Perimeter, between a half-inch to 2 inches of snow could pile up, but areas farther east face much higher totals…