“Confidence is increasing in an event of historical proportions,” the National Weather Service said early Tuesday. “Expect significant – crippling – ice totals from
Atlanta eastward along the I-20 corridor.”
The new winter storm warning, which was posted at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, is in effect through Thursday morning.
In the warning, the Weather Service said snow accumulations in the northeast Georgia mountains could reach 9 inches.
Across metro Atlanta, the Weather Service is predicting less than an inch of snow and sleet for Tuesday, but an additional 2 to 4 inches of snow is possible Tuesday night through Wednesday night in addition to a quarter- to a half-inch of ice accumulation.
As expected, overnight rain that began around midnight began mixing with or changing over to sleet across the northern suburbs around daybreak Tuesday.
As of 8 a.m., the sleet was mostly melting on the roads.
“We don’t want people to have a false sense of security as we wake up this morning and the pavement is wet,” Channel 2 meteorologist David Chandley said. “It looks like Wednesday is going to be a tough day.”