As forecasters predict North Georgia's first snow and ice event of the season, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is on standby, ready to pre-treat roads ahead of any winter precipitation.
"We are certainly in that posture of communicating with our winter weather partners, such as the National Weather Service," GDOT spokeswoman Natalie Dale told Georgia News Network. "This is the time of year we start to have really detailed conversations days out from these events."
Right now, AccessWDUN meteorologist John Wetherbee is predicting a 100-percent chance of rain on Saturday and Sunday. The cold will determine how far south the snow, sleet and ice will come. For now, it appears the Northeast Georgia mountains face the biggest risk of frozen precipitation.
Dale said even if the roads don't freeze, GDOT knows it's better to prepare.
"You know what, if we're prepared and it doesn't come - so much the better - but we prepare for any winter weather situation," Dale said.
Dale said it is a little ironic that this first winter weather episode of the season comes on the heels of Winter Weather Preparedness Week.
"If you'll remember this time last year, Winter Weather Preparedness Week brought us feet of snow in some of our northern counties," Dale said.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/12/742364/georgia-dot-ready-for-weekend-winter-weather-event