Forecasters are saying Northeast Georgia could be in the crosshairs of a winter weather system expected to move into the state later this week, and local schools and agencies are preparing to adjust as needed.
Keith Stellman, forecaster for the National Weather Service's Peachtree City office, said the Northeast Georgia region could start seeing winter precipitation as soon as early Friday morning.
"It will overspread Northeast Georgia somewhere in the 6:00 to 10:00 a.m. window," Stellman said. "We do expect a lot of that precipitation to start as snow or sleet, and the snow could actually be heavy in the very beginning."
Stellman said the current expectation is for that snowfall to transition to freezing rain sometime during the day Friday. He said snow accumulation could tally several inches, with freezing rain potentially accumulating up to a quarter of an inch.
With that in mind, local officials are monitoring conditions and beginning to prepare. Several school districts have issued statements on social media saying they are waiting to make a decision on whether or not to hold school on Friday.
The Hall County School District said Wednesday morning that they will make a decision Thursday. Barrow County, Rabun County, Stephens County and Towns County school systems, along with Piedmont University, have issued similar statements.
So far, no schools have announced any closures for Thursday, however, Union County schools operated on an altered schedule Tuesday due to icy road conditions earlier in the week.
Hall County Emergency Management Deputy Director Jessica Benton said they attended a meeting with the National Weather Service Wednesday afternoon and are now beginning preparations for the storm. She said the biggest concerns are road and power impacts.
"We encourage (people) not to travel during this storm, but if they have to, have those preparations in place for getting maintenance done on their vehicle and having their supply of food and water with them," Benton said. "We are asking residents to winterize their homes, keeping their heat on so their pipes don't freeze, get their three-day supply of medications, food and water."
Benton said Hall County and Gainesville are working to begin pre-treating roads on Thursday ahead of the storm.
Meanwhile, for those in the Hall County homeless community, the county government is offering the three Hall County Community Centers (East Hall, Mulberry Creek, North Hall) as warming centers during daytime operating hours. For overnight shelter, Good News at Noon is offering its secondary building at 881 Dorsey Street in Gainesville.
Ken Gossage, director of Good News at Noon, said the shelter usually opens around 5:00 p.m. and stays open until around 8:00 a.m. He said the shelter has already been seeing 40 to 60 people per night since the weather started chilling down this week.
"As long as the lows are around 32 (degrees), we usually open that inclement weather shelter, so that will be open until temperatures start to warm up again," Gossage said.
Gossage also advised that the ministry's main building at 884 Dorsey Street is offering two meals per day for those in the homeless community.
