This is just after a winter storm caused damage in the south two weeks ago. Many residents of Atlanta, Georgia abandoned their cars on highways, staying overnight in stores, while students spent the night in school buses. Atlanta only received 2 to 3 inches of snow, but since they don't receive wintry precipitation very often, residents were caught off guard and didn't know how to react once it started snowing. Salt and plow trucks were not prepared and roads became slippery for motorists. Forecasters didn't call for snow or ice in Atlanta, so it's understandable why residents weren't ready for a round of wintry weather.
Will Atlanta be ready for round two? This time around there has already been more notice about this winter storm, called Winter Storm Pax by The Weather Channel. Forecasters are predicting significant icing for the Atlanta area. Other cities in this icing zone include Dallas, TX, Shreveport, LA, Birmingham, AL, and Charlotte, NC. It appears that the heavier icing will occur in a stripe from Atlanta to Charlotte, where a quarter to three-quarters of an inch of icing could occur. It wouldn't be surprising if some localized areas receive one inch of ice. This much icing could cause prolonged power outages. Below is an image from AccuWeather about this upcoming winter storm.
As far as our area goes, there is some question as to whether or not this storm will come up the Atlantic coast and give upstate New York a big snowstorm. For now, forecasters will continue to monitor the latest computer models and more of a consensus will come for the middle of the week. The time frame for a potential storm would be Thursday afternoon through Friday morning. It looks like a 50% chance as of right now.
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