A menacing storm is bearing down on North Georgia.
The peak of the storm is anticipated overnight into Sunday morning as temperatures crash into the 20s and low 30s, forecasters said. Widespread showers in metro Atlanta will turn into freezing rain around 11 p.m. Saturday and continue past sunrise.
In Atlanta, up to a quarter-inch of ice could accumulate through Sunday night, and it’s likely areas above I-20 will be slick by morning.
Officials have warned of the storm’s arrival for several days as they prepare for the worst: extended power outages amid extreme cold.
The ice storm warning impacts all of North Georgia and stretches southward to Polk County, southeast through Fulton and Henry counties and east to Richmond County along the South Carolina border. Some localized areas could get up to an inch of ice, the Weather Service warns.
Saturday afternoon, Gov. Brian Kemp deployed 120 Georgia National Guard members to northeast Georgia to focus on clearing routes. Earlier this week, Kemp declared a state of emergency and authorized up to 500 guardsmen for deployment.
Dozens of reporters and photographers from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are stationed throughout metro Atlanta and the region. Follow AJC updates here.
Around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Atlanta was still above freezing. But widespread showers moved west to east across North Georgia and parts of Middle Georgia.
The peak of the ice storm will move through overnight into Sunday morning as temperatures crash into the low 30s and high 20s.
Ice will continue accumulating Sunday until around noon. Travel conditions will be less than ideal, and motorists are advised to stay off the roads.
A high of 42 degrees is expected Sunday afternoon, and it will rain for most, if not all, of the day.
A brief warmup is possible in parts of metro Atlanta in the afternoon. A line of thunderstorms will move into southwest Georgia and parts of Middle Georgia between 2 and 8 p.m. Warm air is bringing that rain, which could lead to thunderstorms in Middle Georgia and as far north as the metro.
There is still uncertainty about how far into Middle Georgia and metro Atlanta thunderstorms will reach, especially if the area does not get warm enough.
FEMA announced Saturday night that federal disaster assistance is available to Georgia.
President Donald Trump's action authorizes FEMA to coordinate disaster relief efforts, according to a news release.
The decision intends " to alleviate the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population and to provide appropriate assistance to save lives, to protect property, public health and safety and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe," the news release said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp asked Trump for the declaration earlier Saturday.
"To ensure no stone has been unturned in our winter storm preparations, I submitted a request for a federal emergency disaster declaration for Georgia counties expecting heavy impact.
"President Trump quickly approved that request, and I want to thank him and his team for their partnership as we work to keep Georgians safe," Kemp said.
Trump also approved requests from Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana and West Virginia.
The winter storm stretched from New Mexico to New England on Saturday.
At least 22 states, including Georgia, issued emergency disaster declarations.
Others were Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Washington, D.C., has also declared a state of emergency.
More than 17,000 flights scheduled in the U.S. this weekend were delayed, according to flightaware.
With showers and freezing rain spreading across North Georgia on Saturday evening, Georgia Power, the state's largest electric utility, gave more insight into its plans to respond to potential outages affecting any of its 2.8 million customers.
The company said it has 10,000 personnel ready to help restore power. Once conditions allow its damage assessment teams to get into the field, the utility said it will send "vegetation crews" to clear debris, before restoration efforts begin in affected areas.
Georgia Power continued to warn that the severity of the storm could lead to extended outages in some areas, but said, "Crews are prepared to work around the clock to restore power for customers safely and as quickly as possible."
Cobb EMC said in an email to customers Saturday night that it has hired additional crews from outside the state to help during this weekend's ice storm.
The electric cooperative, which serves approximately 200,000 customers in parts of Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding, Bartow and Fulton counties, said it expects the storm to cause freezing rain, gusty wind and extremely cold temperatures.
"Our crews are staged and ready to respond and restore power as quickly and safely as possible as soon as conditions allow," Cobb EMC said.
The utility did not say how many outside crew members it hired. It said they would come from across the Southeast.
Emory Healthcare will close most outpatient clinics and ambulatory surgery centers Monday. Outpatient clinics and ASCs in LaGrange, Warner Robins and Perry will be open Monday.
All Emory emergency departments and hospitals will remain open, as well as dialysis centers and some procedural areas.
Patients are encouraged to verify upcoming appointments.
The Fulton County Courthouse will be closed Monday. Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville signed an emergency order Saturday afternoon declaring the courthouse closed.
All jurors summoned for service Monday do not need to appear and all groups are dismissed. Jurors with service scheduled for Tuesday are to call the juror service number after 7 p.m. Monday night.
According to the order, all magistrate court and first appearance hearings scheduled for Zoom will still take place Monday. All family violence hearings under the family division scheduled for Monday will be rescheduled to Feb. 2.
The Georgia Supreme Court will also be closed Monday. Any filing deadlines falling on the date should extend to when the court reopens.
The domestic terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Saturday evening was calm.
At about 6:45 p.m., there were no long lines crowding security, baggage claim or the ticketing areas. The security wait times were under three minutes and the restaurants on the perimeter of the checkpoints were mostly empty.
Still, a few passengers were camped out in corners awaiting flights.
Melody Patterson planned to fly out of Atlanta on Sunday morning, but her Delta Air Lines flight was canceled. She rescheduled her flight to a later time Sunday but then managed to find a different Frontier flight scheduled to take off at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. She booked it, hoping she would be able to get home to Houston.
If the Frontier flight doesn’t work out, Patterson still plans to stay at the airport. She said she doesn't want to risk going to a hotel and not being able to return due to limited ground transportation.
Kesha Hunt and Tonia Fuller were trying to return home to Arkansas after visiting a friend in New York. They initially booked a direct flight from New York to Arkansas, but when that flight was canceled because of the storm, they flew into Atlanta.
The Delta flight they scheduled for Saturday also canceled, so they had to book a hotel for the night and reschedule a flight for Sunday afternoon. They are worried hotel rates will rise if that flight cancels too.
"We're not going nowhere in the winter anymore," Fuller said.
Georgia Department of Transportation crews are continuing to treat state roads and interstates north of I-20. I-75 is being treated all the way south to Macon.
By 7 p.m., crews had spread more than 1 million gallons of brine, spokesperson Natalie Dale said. The department is pretreating roughly 18,000 lane miles across the areas expected to be hit with ice.
Sub-freezing temperatures will become prevalent in northeast Georgia around 9 p.m., when ice will also start to accumulate, Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz said.
Areas as far south as Forsyth, Gwinnett and Cherokee counties will be impacted at that point.
The remaining metro Atlanta counties south of that area will experience widespread showers at 9 p.m., with temperatures in the high 30s.
The rain that falls before temperatures reach freezing will eventually freeze. Nitz said that around midnight, icy conditions will impact most areas surrounding Atlanta.
Ice will continue accumulating into Sunday morning until around noon, when a brief warmup will bring showers and thunderstorms into the area.
"This rain, not likely to be enough or the warmth enough, to melt everything, especially the areas that get the thicker ice coating," Nitz said.
Anything that does not evaporate will refreeze overnight Sunday into Monday morning.
An arctic blast will push cold air into the state from the northwest, causing hazardous conditions again.
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