ATLANTA — Winter weather descended onto Atlanta Friday, bringing snow late Friday and much more to watch out for on Saturday.
Frosty temperatures and icy conditions are expected to continue and we have already seen impacts to roads and air travel. There's even a heightened fire risk for today.
With all of that going on, here's what you need to know about the weather for Saturday and its infrastructure implications :
Snow
Many around metro Atlanta are going to be waking up to dustings on their front lawns and sidewalks. It's cold enough that some of it has stuck instead of melting off right away.
Members of our 11Alive StormTrackers Facebook group have been posting photos and videos from their towns of the snow overnight. Join up and share your photos of the snow!
It's hard to say how quickly the snow will melt off Saturday morning - it's expected to remain cold through the early morning but the sun will come out around 9 a.m. which could melt it off pretty quick.
We're not expecting anymore flurries today, so enjoy what's on the ground while it lasts!
Frigid temps and gusty winds
The sun is supposed to come out by the late morning and temperatures will rise back into the mid-30s by the afternoon, but through the morning it's expected to be cold, with wind-chill temps below 20 degrees.
A Wind Advisory is in effect for all of north Georgia until 10 a.m. and a Wind Chill Advisory is in place for northwest Georgia where the feels-like temperatures will drop below 5 degrees.
Black ice
One thing you'll definitely need to keep a watch for if you have to get out on the road at all early Saturday is black ice.
We've already seen one nasty wreck on the I-85 in Midtown Atlanta this morning, and 11Alive Photojournalist Hunter Joyce caught this patch of icy road early Saturday:
While the sun will probably burn off a bit of that around metro Atlanta, keep in mind the farther north into the higher elevations you go the more those conditions could persist.
Fight cancellations
The tracking service FlightAware is reporting nearly 200 cancellations into and out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport already for Saturday, as well as a few dozen current delays.
That comes after hundreds of delays and cancellations were reported Friday night as the snow began to fall.
Most of those cancellations are not directly tied to Atlanta's weather, but a result of destination airports in the northeast being unable to receive flights following a major winter storm that swept across the region.
Fire risk
Wait, seriously?
That's right, according to the National Weather SErvice. A red flag warning will be in effect for the afternoon and evening across parts of north Georgia because of the high winds and low humidity.
The NWS Atlanta station notes that due to these conditions "any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly," and outdoor burns are discouraged.
