Hall County officials are currently preparing for the possibility of winter weather moving into the area as the weekend comes to a close, although recent forecasts show a diminishing possibility of impactful precipitation.
Emergency management authorities heard in a weather briefing on Friday that forecasts were calling for freezing rain throughout much of Notheast Georgia late Sunday night into Monday morning, but interim EMA Dirctor Casey Ramsey said expectations had changed by the time a second briefing was held Saturday afternoon.
"This afternoon, we did have some encouraging news in the forecast that we're kind of on the line of most likely not receiving anything," he explained. "It shifted a little more westward, and stayed in the northwest part of the state."
He continued: "But obviously we want to keep a close eye on it as temperatures are going to stay into the twenties in the early morning [on Monday]."
Ramsey said officials would be attending another weather briefing at 7 p.m. Sunday in order to stay on top of the situation, but that Saturday's meeting had left them feeling optimistic.
For residents looking to stay in the loop regarding to the latest forecast updates, Ramsey had a few recommendations.
"If you have not already signed up for Hall County Citizens Alert, I highly encourage you to do that," he said. "You can do that at the HallCounty.org website."
Ramsey said the service helps disseminate from the county 911 Center any information related to hazardous conditions that might occur. He also recommended visiting Hall County-related social media sites for other types of information.
In updating AccessWDUN on the latest weather briefing, Ramsey offered one last piece of advice: "With any weather event, we do encourage folks to pay attention to the forecast; use good common sense - if it looks hazardous, stay in and allow us to do some work, and we'll get things back to normal just as soon as we can."
