Atlanta Ghost Town: Ice, sleet, snow keep a city at home
Ahead of the storm?
What a difference a little preparation can make.
Two weeks ago, Atlanta was in perpetual gridlock. Thousands of cars abandoned. People on foot.
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On foot near abandoned cars in Atlanta Tuesday. Atlanta National Weather Service
Fast forward to today, and this time local officials and residents of Atlanta seem to have heeded warnings of another well forecast winter storm. The result?
Ghost Town Atlanta.
Snow and freezing rain are pelting Atlanta and much of northern Georgia today. Here's the Atlanta radar shot from Weather Underground.
The result is a coating of ice and snow, with some sleet for good measure. Roadways are virtually empty in much of metro Atlanta as folks ride this one out at home, instead of stranded in their cars in gridlock two weeks ago.
Snow and ice continue today, with some ice accumulations possible to near 1 inch in eastern Georgia.
Heavy Carolina snow
Further north and east, heavy snowfall is coming down in South Carolina, and spreading northeast toward Washington, D.C.
Storm aims up the East Coast
Here's the surface map loop showing potent low riding up the East Coast. D.C., Philly, Jersey, New York and Boston are all in the path of this major winter storm. Click on the image below to animate the surface map over the next 48 hours.
A wedge of warm air near the coast may spare some coastal cities from heavy snow. Inland it's a different story. Some hefty 12 to 18 inch-plus totals may fall inland. Here's the worst case scenario numbers from the Baltimore-Washington National Weather Service.
Winter storm warnings are flying all the way up the Eastern Seaboard and well inland. South Carolina seems to have cut to the chase, and issued a Civil Emergency for the entire state!
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE
SOUTH CAROLINA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA
RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1054 PM EST TUE FEB 11 2014
THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE SOUTH
CAROLINA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA.
A STATE OF EMERGENCY IS IN EFFECT-THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS
ISSUED SEVERE WINTER WEATHER ALERTS FOR MOST OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
PREDICTING SNOW, SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN. POWER OUTAGES AND
DANGEROUS ROAD CONDITIONS ARE LIKELY. MONITOR LOCAL MEDIA FOR
CHANGES IN CONDITIONS. SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION URGE MOTORISTS TO STAY OFF
THE ROADWAYS. IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY CALL *HP OR 911. FOR
THE STATUS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICES STATEWIDE VISIT SCEMD.ORG.
Here's a forecast. This storm is going to be the lead on national newscast again today, and probably tomorrow. Maybe they should have held the Winter Olympics in Atlanta this year?
Stay tuned.