what are ATL winters like? (Atlanta, Avera: fit in, house, schools)

[~Meg~]

i'm trying to prepare for my first winter in ATL. i've lived in Seattle and Phoenix so i'm used to both the heat and cold. i've heard is gets really cold but doesn't snow. is it windy? how low do the temps go? what do you do to keep warm inside? i've got two little ones i need to warm as well. luckily i have a decent stash of winter clothes from Seattle that they still fit into.

[RainyRainyDay]

I've spent most of my adult life in Vancouver, BC but I've been in Atlanta for six years now. You're not going to find it particularly cold!

In the middle of winter it does get cold at nights (down in the 20s and even - infrequently - the teens) but it warms up during the day. Gloves are rarely needed. The cold season is short - just a few weeks, really.

The first year we were here, I was driving to work one winter morning. Before leaving the house I'd told our third grader, who was still breakfasting with her dad, to be sure to wear her warm jacket, hat and mittens to the bus stop, because it seemed pretty cold. On the car radio, there was an announcement that all schools were closed due to the icy weather! I was incredulous. It was cold, but not that cold. I fumbled to get out my cell phone, anxious to phone home before daughter went off to catch the school bus (which wouldn't be coming) and husband left for work. I caught them in time and we changed plans to handle the "snow day". It would never have occurred to me that it was cold enough to close the schools. It happens in part because, as you will observe, many kids don't own what you or I would consider to be a winter jacket or coat, so the authorities don't want them out in freezing weather, underdressed.

Rest assured, right now you own way more winter clothes than you'll need here!

[City Mechanic]

Anything you have from up there will probably be just fine for the cold. Snow suits are definately overkill. It really does not get as cold here as up there but the humidity in the area makes it seem like Antartica to those that have lived here a while. When the wind picks up it feels like a million needles hitting you but when the wind dies down it is actually not too bad.
People from colder environments have no problem at all adapting. I must warn you however, IF it snows or ices over, please stay at home. I am not insulting you in any way but I can tell you from experience (Former over the road truck driver) Southerners, in general, cannot drive in snow. Just because some have four wheel drives down here does not make them any better drivers than anywhere else. Most are just not accustomed to winter driving conditions and (some) people mistakenly drive like its summertime with ICE on the road. Up where you are from, I would rate winter at about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 where as here it is, at the most a 3. Cold without the heavy months of snow.

[George Chong]

Originally Posted by ~Meg~

i'm trying to prepare for my first winter in ATL. i've lived in Seattle and Phoenix so i'm used to both the heat and cold. i've heard is gets really cold but doesn't snow. is it windy? how low do the temps go? what do you do to keep warm inside? i've got two little ones i need to warm as well. luckily i have a decent stash of winter clothes from Seattle that they still fit into.

Here is a chart of temperature averages. Average Weather for Atlanta, GA - Temperature and Precipitation

I usually continue playing tennis outdoors during the winter. I have a heavy overcoat that I might wear just 7 days out of the year. Otherwise a leather jacket will suffice.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by ~Meg~

i'm trying to prepare for my first winter in ATL. i've lived in Seattle and Phoenix so i'm used to both the heat and cold. i've heard is gets really cold but doesn't snow. is it windy? how low do the temps go? what do you do to keep warm inside? i've got two little ones i need to warm as well. luckily i have a decent stash of winter clothes from Seattle that they still fit into.

Well even though ATL is much further south than Seattle, it actually gets colder than Seattle. On average it snows about 2" a winter in Atlanta. During a typical winter, the low gets down to about 12 or 13 degrees on a couple of nights, and sometimes the wind chills are below 0. Keep in mind that the city itself is often much warmer at night during the winter than the surrounding suburbs. So it may be 25 in the city, and 10 in the suburbs.

[gt6974a]

I lived in Steamboat Springs for a winter and I could swear Atlanta is colder. Rainy and Cold, lots of moisture, CO was a dry cold and not nearly as bad.

[matt8325]

Originally Posted by City Mechanic

Anything you have from up there will probably be just fine for the cold. Snow suits are definately overkill. It really does not get as cold here as up there but the humidity in the area makes it seem like Antartica to those that have lived here a while. When the wind picks up it feels like a million needles hitting you but when the wind dies down it is actually not too bad.
People from colder environments have no problem at all adapting. I must warn you however, IF it snows or ices over, please stay at home. I am not insulting you in any way but I can tell you from experience (Former over the road truck driver) Southerners, in general, cannot drive in snow. Just because some have four wheel drives down here does not make them any better drivers than anywhere else. Most are just not accustomed to winter driving conditions and (some) people mistakenly drive like its summertime with ICE on the road. Up where you are from, I would rate winter at about an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 where as here it is, at the most a 3. Cold without the heavy months of snow.

Winters can be just as cold in Atlanta as Seattle, they are near the coast and the mountains protect them from alot of the cold air, whereas in Atlanta, we get the cold arctic air coming straight down from Canada.

[RainyRainyDay]

Oh gosh, just go to weather.com, select the city of your choice and click on Averages. Open up two separate browser windows, get the Averages for Seattle in one and Atlanta in the other. The numbers speak eloquently for themselves.

[SiriousGA]

You can always tell the people who move here from the north in their first year. Wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. The next year, they will be wearing long pants, sweatshirt and a coat.

I have noticed it seems to feel colder during the day when the wind is blowing, and at night the wind subsides and it feels warmer even though the temp may drop.

Also noticed it seems to be 41 degrees alot. During the day and then at night during the winter. Cloud cover helps keep the heat in. When the skies are clear, the temp will drop at night. It feels crisp, but not a biting cold like in the north.

Love the Atlanta winters. No complaints after grwoing up in Michigan.

[Iconographer]

I've lived north and south. Yes, it gets cold in Atlanta in the winter, thanks to the "Arctic Express"; but I think the main difference between Atlanta and cities farther north is that the cold spells tend to retreat faster. A hard freeze will usually dispel after a couple of days...when I lived up north, it seemed like they lasted forever.