Is 2022 a wetter and colder year than normal for Atlanta?

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

Monday next week (not tomorrow) is supposed to have a high of 50 and a low of 28….

Fun fact: 50 is supposed to be the LOW for Phoenix on Monday for next week. And when people complain to me about Atlanta being warm… Phoenix isn’t going through any atypical weather event over there either, 50s and 40s being the coldest it gets is pretty standard.

I’m excited to see just how cold Atlanta gets. Given that this isn’t Chicago I’m not too worried about it but I’m hoping there is some really cold air that runs through here. I really want Atlanta to be my place for the long term and I don’t want the winter to be the deal breaker for me.

Don't worry, PP! We get coat and scarf weather here, and sometimes ice and snow. And you won't believe our glorious Springs, they're incredibly beautiful. It's like living in a massive Botanical Garden.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

Monday next week (not tomorrow) is supposed to have a high of 50 and a low of 28….

Fun fact: 50 is supposed to be the LOW for Phoenix on Monday for next week. And when people complain to me about Atlanta being warm… Phoenix isn’t going through any atypical weather event over there either, 50s and 40s being the coldest it gets is pretty standard.

I’m excited to see just how cold Atlanta gets. Given that this isn’t Chicago I’m not too worried about it but I’m hoping there is some really cold air that runs through here. I really want Atlanta to be my place for the long term and I don’t want the winter to be the deal breaker for me.

Lol, you sound like someone who has very rarely experienced really cold air and winter weather.

While Atlanta can experience some cold temperatures during the winter season, with low temperatures plunging to as low as the 20’s and even into the teens on some occasions between November and March depending on how active winter weather patterns may be in any given year, Atlanta fortunately is not prone to experience extended frigid spells (of about a week or longer) like parts of the continent located further north.

And though the North Georgia Mountains region might be at least slightly more prone to experience significant wet inclement winter weather events (snow, ice and sleet storms) that sometimes may affect some parts of Atlanta’s northern exurbs and outer suburbs during the winter season, metro Atlanta as a whole fortunately also is not prone to experience significant wet inclement winter weather events in most years, with major winter storms happening roughly about once every five years on average.

But when metro Atlanta does experience significant wet inclement winter weather events, it sometimes can get really ugly in an Atlanta metropolitan region that is not accustomed to dealing with significant winter weather events on a frequent basis.

The 2010-2011 winter season was an unusually active winter season where the Atlanta region experienced about four significant wet inclement winter weather events, including a massive January 2011 ice storm where people were very notably captured on video ice skating along an almost completely empty, ice-covered Peachtree Street in Midtown Atlanta.

[vimeo]18680897[/vimeo]
[vimeo]18680897[/vimeo]
Peachtree St. Ice Rink in Midtown #2


Atlanta Ice Storm Jan 10, 2011

That January 2011 ice storm was accompanied by an Arctic air mass that kept temperatures below freezing and kept much of the Atlanta region shut down for the better part of a week.

January 9-10, 2011 Major Winter Storm: North and Central Georgia Winter Storm January 9-10, 2011 (National Weather Service)

But, as almost every metro Atlanta resident who was living in the area in January 2014 knows, no discussion about severe winter weather is complete without mentioning the totally nightmarish late-January 2014 ‘Snowmageddon’ inclement winter weather event that trapped people and vehicles out on the roads for days in an epic regionwide traffic jam of apocalyptic proportions and made Atlanta the not-so-good talk of national and international media circles...

SNOWMAGEDDON: Remember the last big winter storm to hit Atlanta?

Atlanta Snow | Gov. Deal: I don't think we responded fast enough

Given the Atlanta area’s truly horrific past experiences with really cold winter weather, many metro Atlantans likely very understandably may not be all that excited to experience really cold weather during this coming winter.

Like they say, ‘be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it’...

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by JMatl

Don't worry, PP! We get coat and scarf weather here, and sometimes ice and snow. And you won't believe our glorious Springs, they're incredibly beautiful. It's like living in a massive Botanical Garden.

You make me want to change my username. Though I probably should anyway

I used to work in refrigerators and freezers I can handle cold temperatures when I'm equipped I just don’t want to deal with a lot of snow and ice. I told myself that if I ever lived somewhere that gets real winters I’m living in a condo or townhouse dead center of the city with no car and no driveway because screw that noise I’m not doing a bunch of maintenance for nothing. That would be a challenge since I work in the logistics industry and the warehousing district never has good public transit and is always a bit out of town. But, I also don’t want to live somewhere with a real winter anyway. I said if Atlanta is too hot then I’d look into moving DC/Baltimore and if it was too cold then… *gulp* Florida… and I don’t want to do that.

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

You make me want to change my username. Though I probably should anyway

I used to work in refrigerators and freezers I can handle cold temperatures when I'm equipped I just don’t want to deal with a lot of snow and ice. I told myself that if I ever lived somewhere that gets real winters I’m living in a condo or townhouse dead center of the city with no car and no driveway because screw that noise I’m not doing a bunch of maintenance for nothing. That would be a challenge since I work in the logistics industry and the warehousing district never has good public transit and is always a bit out of town. But, I also don’t want to live somewhere with a real winter anyway. I said if Atlanta is too hot then I’d look into moving DC/Baltimore and if it was too cold then… *gulp* Florida… and I don’t want to do that.

LOL at the name change! I honestly think we have a great 4 season climate here, and most winters are fairly mild. When and if we do get bad winter weather, the Metro basically shuts down. Most people take PTO or similar if they can. And I totally get your feelings on Florida, I moved here from Orlando years ago. While I still enjoy visiting friends and family there and the Tampa Bay area, I have zero desire to move back.

[Citykid3785]

I'm from MN, and I appreciate our winters here so much. I good proxy for me is how much we get to turn our fire place on (which we do at every opportunity). And for the most part, that's Dec - Mar with obvious exceptions here and there.

I was amazed by how many people I meet here who things ATL is still too cold, as in they were expecting (and wanting) FL weather which just makes me laugh.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Citykid3785

I'm from MN, and I appreciate our winters here so much. I good proxy for me is how much we get to turn our fire place on (which we do at every opportunity). And for the most part, that's Dec - Mar with obvious exceptions here and there.

I was amazed by how many people I meet here who things ATL is still too cold, as in they were expecting (and wanting) FL weather which just makes me laugh.

Yeah, the “Hotlanta” moniker also seems to play a role in many newcomers and visitors (particularly from more northern climes) expecting Atlanta to have Florida-like tropical weather conditions year-round.

[Need4Camaro]

I think Atlanta doesn’t really get so much as hot as much as it can get relatively humid for those not used to humidity. It’s not as bad as DC, Houston, Florida, ect .. but it is there. TX gets and stays hotter for longer than Atlanta. We are still coasting through the 60’s thru 80’s depending on the day.

[Phil P]

Atlanta is still 4 season, and winter is the worst of the 4 seasons. The saving grace is they're short, 3 months being leafless. It's 5-6 in CO, one of the worst things about this state. It's farther below peoples ideal in winter than it is above peoples ideal in summer. For me, I'd take that trade off since summers are so pretty with the greenery and winters are pretty darn ugly with the lack of evergreens or snow.

I've posted this elsewhere, but I think the reforestation of the state of Georgia (and really the entire south, especially MS) and the irrigation for farming in Southern GA means that humidity / precipitation will keep increasing, and this will also buffer high temps and keep the area summer highs relatively low. Humidity > high temps IMO, even if the feels like is the same.

[bryantm3]

Winters here are definitely eerie. I kind of like it sometimes, the way our deciduous trees turn into haunted swamp creatures without the leaves.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

Winters here are definitely eerie. I kind of like it sometimes, the way our deciduous trees turn into haunted swamp creatures without the leaves.

The mushrooms are the coolest thing that keep things flowering in the winter.