Rough Draft will provide regular storm updates on our website throughout the weekend, as well as on our Facebook and Instagram pages. For weather updates, visit WSB-TV.
Closures and cancellations • MARTA service updates
Hartsfield-Jackson flight delays/cancellations
7:30 p.m.
Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT) Deputy Commissioner Allen Smith said during a 7 p.m. press conference that pre-treatment of Atlanta streets began last night and was about to start again at 8 p.m. Crews are working 12-hour shifts until at least midday on Monday, spreading a brine solution. Once snow arrives, crews will plow and add salt to roads. “If you don’t have to be out on the roads, stay home,” Smith said. “If you do, please slow down and watch for black ice.”
The City of Atlanta will open warming centers beginning at 8 p.m. tonight and will keep them open through 11 a.m. on Feb 2. Locations include Central Park Recreation Center, 400 Merritts Ave. NE, Atlanta, GA 30308; Selena S. Butler Park and Recreation Center (Women and children only), 98 William Holmes Borders Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30312; and an overflow site at Old Adamsville Recreation Center, 3404 Delmar Ln NW, Atlanta, GA 30331. Transportation will be provided nightly at 8 p.m. from the Gateway Center.
6:30 p.m.
The National Weather Service predicts that areas of metro Atlanta will get 1 to 4 inches of snow on Saturday. Some areas might get as much as 6 inches.
4:15 p.m.
The City of Tucker has announced it will close all Tucker recreation and park facilities on Saturday, Jan. 31. All athletics and programming are cancelled, and the city will later send out communications about rescheduling.
Warming centers will open at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 30, in Chamblee, Decatur, Atlanta, and Scottdale for 24-hour activation for Jan. 31-Feb. 2, according to DeKalb County officials.
The following locations will serve as warming centers in DeKalb:
• Exchange Park Intergenerational Center, 2771 Columbia Drive Decatur
• Frontline Response International, 2585 Gresham Road SE, Atlanta
• St. Vincent de Paul, 2050-C Chamblee Tucker Road, Chamblee
• Tobie Recreation Center, 593 Parkdale Drive, Scottdale
3 p.m.
GDOT has announced it will close the I-85, I-75 South Metro, and the I-75 Northwest Corridor (NWC) Express Lanes beginning later tonight and through early Saturday.
The Georgia Express Lanes will close at the following times:
I-85 Express Lanes – closed in both directions as of midnight.
I-75 NWC Express Lanes – closed in both directions as of 9 p.m. tonight
I-75 South Metro Express Lanes – closed in both directions as of 10:30 p.m. tonight.
The City of Atlanta is expected to hold a press conference at 7 p.m. tonight about snowstorm preparations. Check back for updates.
11:20 a.m.
Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a statewide State of Emergency today ahead of this weekend’s winter storm. This is a separate executive order from the one issued on Jan. 22 ahead of Winter Storm Fern, according to a media statement.
Kemp directed the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) to activate the State Operations Center (SOC), beginning at noon today. The current State of Emergency will run through February 6 and can be found here.
“While Mother Nature may not be giving us a break with these back-to-back storms, the good news is we don’t take any days off when it comes to keeping Georgia communities prepared and safe,” Kemp said. “Along with our state partners, we have been monitoring this new winter storm well ahead of its arrival and preparing for whatever it may bring. While the weather event will mostly impact north and east Georgia, extending all the way to the coast, I’ve declared a statewide State of Emergency so we can more easily move resources to the areas expecting impact and stage those assets ahead of the storm.”
Unlike last week’s winter weather event, which mostly brought freezing precipitation and heavy ice, the incoming storm will bring extreme cold temperatures and at least an inch of snowfall in some communities. Even in areas that do not experience heavy snowfall, any accumulation can result in slick and dangerous roadways.
“As this winter weather moves into Georgia, we encourage residents to stay home if possible before and during the storm,” said GEMA/HS Director Josh Lamb. “Fewer vehicles on the roads give GDOT crews the space they need to treat roadways safely and efficiently, helping keep everyone safer this weekend.”
GDOT crews are pre-treating more than 20,000 lane miles on interstates and state routes with brine, prioritizing regions and routes that will experience the heaviest precipitation. Crews will brine continuously in 12-hour shifts before transitioning to plowing operations once snow begins to fall. Both the speed and effectiveness of GDOT’s efforts can be aided by Georgians currently in the snowstorm’s path remaining home this weekend, beginning Friday evening.
Among other provisions, this new State of Emergency order prohibits price gouging; suspends hours-of-service limitations for commercial vehicle operators involved in response activities; and temporarily increases weight, height, and length limits for commercial vehicles transporting essential supplies.
For more winter weather preparedness tips, visit gema.georgia.gov/winter.
10:45 a.m.
Are you ready for round two? Just one week after Winter Storm Fern brought icy conditions to metro Atlanta, Winter Storm Gianna is expected to dump two to four inches of snow starting tonight.
According to our media partner WSB-TV, the winter storm warning issued for parts of North Georgia has been expanded to include metro Atlanta, while a winter weather advisory has pushed even further south.
The winter storm warning areas have the potential to see up to 2-4 inches of snow. The winter weather advisory areas have the potential to see up to 1-2 inches of snow.
Snow will move into the mountains around midnight tonight and expand southward, reaching metro Atlanta around sunrise, WSB reports. Snow showers will come to an end by the early afternoon on Saturday.
The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) said in a media statement that it is preparing for another winter weather event expected to impact much of the state, beginning during the early morning hours of Saturday.
For most of the affected region, brine operations will begin at 7 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 30, in advance of expected snowfall; in metro Atlanta, brine operations will begin at 10 p.m. this evening. Georgia DOT crews will focus on interstates and critical and high-priority route followed by treatment of additional routes as conditions allow.
We’ll have live coverage of the storm throughout the weekend with updates on cancellations and closures to come. Be sure to follow our Instagram stories for the latest closures and updates.
Sandy Springs’ Thursday update
Mayor Rusty Paul said Sandy Springs leadership and first responders met on Thursday, Jan. 29, to discuss this weekend’s winter storm. Paul routinely posts updates on Facebook.
The city’s warming centers, including the City Hall lobby and Police Department Headquarters, will be open Saturday and Sunday.
The Police HQ is open 24 hours a day for anyone in need of a warm place. The City Hall lobby is open both days from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Sandy Springs Public Works Department began pretreating roadways yesterday, Jan. 29, and the Recreation and Parks Department has postponed Saturday programming. After-hours staffing is being increased at the Sandy Springs Emergency Operations Center in preparation for potentially icy roadway conditions, set to begin after midnight Friday.
