Snow in Georgia this winter is not guaranteed, but forecasters say the odds are better than usual. A powerful El Niño is expected to bring the state a wetter winter with bouts of cold air, the kind of setup that can produce snow and ice storms. Keith Stellman, who leads the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City, said every strong El Niño in history has produced at least one snow event in the area, so the chance of at least one this winter is high.
What nobody can say yet is how much. Forecasters usually cannot pin down snow or ice totals until a few days before a storm.
What is El Niño, and why does it matter for Georgia?
El Niño is a natural warming of the Pacific Ocean off South America that happens every three to five years. Just a few extra degrees of ocean heat, lasting nine to 12 months, pumps an enormous amount of energy into the atmosphere.
Georgia based disaster researcher Chuck Watson explained that the same jet stream that soaks California during El Niño keeps rolling east. It picks up moisture from the Gulf and drags it across the Southeast. This year’s El Niño is one of the strongest on record and may not peak for another couple of months.
Could El Niño bring ice storms to Georgia?
That is the bigger worry. When that wet air meets cold Arctic air high in the atmosphere, the result can be freezing rain instead of snow. Watson called the combination a recipe for disaster in a state that rarely sees long stretches below freezing. Ice means falling tree limbs, slick roads and power outages that can last for days…