N. Georgia wakes up to hard freeze

ATLANTA (AP) -- It was a cold start to the day in North Georgia.

Temperatures were below freezing Wednesday morning across most of north and central Georgia. The coldest were in the mountains in places like Blairsville, where the low was 18, one degree shy of the record for the date.

Elsewhere, it was 25 in Gainesville and Cornelia, 24 in Cumming and Jefferson, 22 in Alpharetta, 27 in Marietta and Rome, and 26 in Carrollton.

As the unusually early and cold weather moved in Tuesday and Tuesday night, winds at the airport in Gainesville topped out at 29 miles-an-hour. Wind chills overnight plunged into the teens but by daybreak had dissipated and there was a heavy frost in some places around Gaineville.

A freeze warning will remain in effect until mid-morning Wednesday.

(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)