ATLANTA — While much of the state was basking in temperatures near 80 for the past several days, a winter surge Monday morning brought colder temperatures, strong winds and even some snow in the area. With the wind came downed trees and power outages.
Georgia Power was reporting at least 115,000 customers in the dark around 6 a.m. As of 5:30 p.m., Georgia Power said it had restored power to more than 200,000 customers impacted by high winds and saturated ground after storms moved through Georgia. It's still working to restore power to approximately 12,000 customers who remain without power due to extensive damage.
In a tweet, Georgia Power said crews will continue to work until power is 100% restored.
"Georgia Power has crews in the field tonight working to complete restoration as quickly as safely as possible to all customers who are able to receive power," the company said in a statement Monday evening.
Georgia Power added it may take longer to restore power to some customers who may have had extensive damage to their homes.
"As a large weather system moved across the state bringing several inches of rain, snow and high winds, Georgia Power is responding to service interruptions as quickly and safely as weather conditions allow," they said in a statement. "Crews from around the state are engaged in restoration activities, including damage assessment to determine what restoration crews will need to make repairs."
We had reports of trees on homes across the metro and into north Georgia.
A large oak tree fell on a home in DeKalb County that killed a 5-year-old boy. Officials said it happened around 5:40 a.m.
Other reports of trees down from the 11Alive StormTrackers Facebook group included homes in Gillsville and in Buford.
Authorities reported multiple trees blocking roads in Gwinnett County earlier this morning from Norcross, to Grayson, Suwanee and Lawrenceville.
Fannin County officials said they received around 2-inches of snow and that there were multiple trees and power lines down throughout the county.
In Walton County, officials reported a tree down on a house that killed a dog. They said several others fell on cars and some were blocking roads.
Photos: Snow in north Georgia
We checked some of the highest wind gusts overnight in the area. They were pretty impressive. Some spots had wind gusts higher than 50mph.
11Alive reporter Brendan Keefe could barely see the "Welcome to Georgia" sign at the Alabama border because it was covered in snow.
After seeing gusts as high as 40 mph, 11Alive Chief Meteorologist Chris Holcomb said the winds will gradually weaken during the afternoon hours. Temperatures will still be slow to warm. Highs will be in the mid-40s, but with the wind, it will feel like it's still in the 30s.
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POWER OUTAGES CHECK | Georgia Power customers, check here. Georgia EMC customers check here.