WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY

UNDATED - A Winter Weather Advisory has been posted for parts of northeast Georgia.

The full text of it reads as follows:

...LIGHT WINTRY PRECIPITATION EXPECTED ACROSS PARTS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA (RABUN AND HABERSHAM COUNTIES) TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING.

A MIX OF LIGHT SNOW AND SLEET HAD DEVELOPED OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS AS OF THE MID EVENING HOURS. SLICK SPOTS WERE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ON ROADS CLOSER TO THE MOUNTAINS AND AT LEAST ONE ACCIDENT HAD OCCURRED IN RABUN COUNTY.

THE PRECIPITATION WILL FALL MAINLY AS LIGHT SNOW FOR A COUPLE HOURS...BEFORE TRANSITIONING TO A MIX OF RAIN...FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET. SOMETIME AFTER MIDNIGHT THE PRECIPITATION SHOULD BECOME ALL RAIN AS TEMPERATURES SLOWLY RISE OVERNIGHT.

ACCUMULATIONS OF SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN WILL BE HIGHLY VARIABLE ACROSS THE REGION GIVEN THE MIXED NATURE OF THE PRECIPITATION. UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF MOUNTAINS...WITH A TRACE TO A HALF INCH OF SNOW AND A LITTLE SLEET AT LOWER ELEVATIONS.

A LIGHT GLAZE OF ICE IS EXPECTED WITH THE FREEZING RAIN...MAINLY RIGHT ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAINS. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW...SLEET...OR FREEZING RAIN WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

Sleet and snow were also falling in other parts of northeast Georgia Wednesday night prompting the National Weather Service to issue a Special Weather Statement:

FANNIN-GILMER-UNION-TOWNS-PICKENS-DAWSON-LUMPKIN-WHITE-FORSYTH- HALL-BANKS-JACKSON-MADISON-GWINNETT-BARROW-CLARKE COUNTIES...

...LIGHT MIX OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA OVERNIGHT... A DEVELOPING LOW-PRESSURE SYSTEM ACROSS THE SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY IS SPREADING MOISTURE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO INTO NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA.

A RELATIVELY COLD AND DRY AIR MASS IN PLACE ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA HAS ALLOWED THE PRECIPITATION TO FALL AS A MIX OF SLEET...SNOW AND RAIN ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO COOL SLOWLY THROUGH LATE EVENING...BUT SHOULD REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING AT MOST LOCATIONS. A FEW REPORTS OF LIGHT SLEET ACCUMULATIONS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED THIS EVENING IN THE COUNTIES INCLUDED ABOVE.

WHILE MINOR ACCUMULATIONS OF LESS THAN A HALF INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM GILMER TO GWINNETT TO MADISON COUNTY. THESE ACCUMULATIONS SHOULD MAINLY BE ON GRASSY AREAS AND OTHER ELEVATED SURFACES SUCH AS DECKS. NO SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS OF SLEET OR SNOW ARE EXPECTED ON ROADWAYS...ALTHOUGH CAUTION SHOULD STILL BE USED WHEN CROSSING BRIDGES OR OVERPASSES...PARTICULARLY AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS.

PRECIPITATION SHOULD BEGIN TO TAPER OFF FRIDAY MORNING...WITH ANY LINGERING PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF RAIN SHOWERS.