Snow causing few problems in Ga. Tuesday night

ATLANTA (AP) -- A winter storm brought snow and sleet to much of north Georgia, and state transportation officials were preparing for the possibility of black ice on roads and highways into Thursday morning.

Snow moved into north Georgia on Wednesday afternoon and a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service said wintry precipitation was likely to continue into Thursday morning.

Forecasters said 2-4 inches of snow was expected in parts of north Georgia, with as much as 6 inches expected to fall in isolated parts of far north Georgia. A mix of snow and rain was also expected to reach several counties in the southern metro Atlanta region.

Forecasters are warning of the potential for black ice throughout north Georgia overnight into Thursday morning. Temperatures are expected to drop to the low 30s and high 20s overnight. Transportation officials planned to pay close attention to road conditions northwest of Atlanta since precipitation there appeared heavier than other areas.

"Because that northwest corner is kind of taking the hardest hit we are obviously continuing to run plow trucks and treatment trucks on those interstates," said spokeswoman Natalie Dale. She added that a collision on I-575 in northwest Georgia caused backups and crews were expecting to send a truck to treat that stretch of highway again with brine.

"We'll be out there plowing and treating throughout the night," Dale said.

Apart from some minor congestion in parts of Cobb County, Georgia Department of Transportation traffic maps showed a general traffic flow of 50 mph or faster on freeways throughout most of the metro Atlanta region. Traffic on local interstates moved along smoothly for most of the afternoon and evening, in stark contrast to congestion during a late January 2014 storm that left untold numbers of people stranded in their vehicles and school buses overnight.

Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm and government offices closed early Wednesday as precipitation began in the metro region. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed also ordered all non-essential city workers to stay home as the storm moved in and to report back for duty on Thursday, when forecasts call for highs in the 40s throughout much of the metro region.

The weather also prompted flight delays at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, dozens of school closures and the opening of emergency shelters in cities and counties throughout north Georgia. Georgia Power's outage map showed roughly 350 customers without service in scattered outages Wednesday night.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/2/285642