North Georgia Weather Forecast (Dec. 11-17, 2023)

Hello North Georgia FHW!

Welcome Message

I want to take a moment to thank you for signing up for this newsletter. If you're receiving this email, take a quick 15 seconds to reply with a 'hello,' which will let me know you're getting these emails. This newsletter has already had 1,000 people join, which is a great sign that there's much interest in localized weather forecasts for North Georgia.

I started this newsletter to provide forecasts for an area that often gets overlooked for quality weather coverage, and news, for that matter. Of course, the Chattanooga and Atlanta stations focus more on the urban areas, and I hope that this newsletter and the Facebook page will fill in some of the gaps. Even if you're perfectly satisfied with your local news, I hope this newsletter still gives you a break from all of the bad news and politics. I will only discuss the weather here.

Weather Forecast this Week

We're sort of starting this newsletter out on a boring note. Surface high pressure will continue to build into the region from the north, behind this past weekend's storm system. This high pressure will influence the weather from now through the early weekend, resulting in sunny to partly cloudy skies and chilly weather. A slight warming trend will occur from now through mid-week, but this trend will only bring temperatures closer to seasonal averages. Overall, average to slightly below-average temperatures and dry conditions will dominate the week.

Weather Forecast Discussion for this Weekend

The mid-weekend forecast gets a bit murky, mainly because of large differences in model guidance. An upper low will drop down into the Southwest this week and begin making its way eastward, while another system drops down into the Northern Plains. How these two features interact will determine whether North Georgia, especially the lower half, gets a widespread, soaking rain or just some cloudy weather. If the two systems merge, a stronger surface low will develop along the Gulf coast and trek farther northward, bringing more rain. Otherwise, the surface low, if it develops at all under this scenario, will get suppressed to the south and be weaker.

Either way, I don't have any concerns about severe weather or frozen precipitation. Just cold rain, unfortunately. If your weekend plans depend on whether it rains or not, don't go canceling anything yet, especially if you're in the northern half of North Georgia. I've made a note to post an update on this potential rainmaker on the North Georgia Facebook page on Wednesday.