Honestly, if you've lived in the South for more than a week, you know the "January in Atlanta" drill. One day you’re walking the BeltLine in a light hoodie, and the next, you’re frantically checking if your outdoor pipes are wrapped because the local news is using the word "blast" every four seconds.
Right now, we are staring down a 2 week weather forecast Atlanta that feels like a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation.
The immediate chill and that "snow" talk
Let's look at the numbers. As of tonight, Thursday, January 15, it is a crisp 28°F out there. It feels like 23°F because of a light west wind. Clear skies. Classic winter.
But tomorrow, Friday the 16th, is when the "Atlanta special" happens. We’ll see a high of 51°F during a sunny day—totally manageable, right? Then the sun goes down, and a 65% chance of rain moves in. This is the part where everyone starts whispering about whether it’ll turn into ice. According to the current data, it’s mostly just going to be a cold, wet Friday night.
Saturday stays gray and cloudy with a high again of 51°F, but then the bottom drops out.
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Sunday, January 18, brings the sun back, but don’t let it fool you. The high only hits 38°F, and the wind is coming out of the northwest at 11 mph. Monday and Tuesday are looking even more brutal, with overnight lows dipping down to 22°F and 21°F. If you’re planning on being at the MLK Day events on Monday the 19th, bundle up like you’re heading to the tundra. It’s going to be sunny, but "sunny" at 43°F with a 12 mph wind is a different kind of cold.
Is the second week any better?
Around Wednesday, January 21, the pattern shifts. We climb out of the basement.
- Wednesday (Jan 21): Mostly cloudy, high of 49°F.
- Thursday (Jan 22): The warmth starts to creep in. High of 55°F.
- Friday (Jan 23): We hit 59°F. It’s warmer, but it brings the rain.
The end of this two-week stretch looks soggy. By Saturday, January 24, we’re looking at a high of 59°F but with a 65% chance of rain at night and nearly 100% humidity. Sunday the 25th follows suit with a 75% chance of rain during the day before temperatures crash back down to a low of 26°F that night.
Basically, it's a seesaw. You get three days of shivering, followed by three days of umbrella-toting.
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What people get wrong about Atlanta winters
Most people think Atlanta is "warm" because we're in Georgia.
Wrong.
The humidity here makes the cold "heavier." A 30-degree morning in Atlanta feels significantly more biting than a 30-degree morning in a dry climate like Denver. Our infrastructure also isn't built for sustained freezes. When the forecast shows a 21°F low on Tuesday, January 20, that’s when you see the lines at Home Depot for faucet covers.
And then there's the snow hype.
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Everyone remembers "Snowmageddon." Because of that, any time the temperature drops below 35°F and there’s moisture in the air, the city gets a little twitchy. For this specific two-week window, the models are showing very low chances of actual accumulation in the metro area, though the North Georgia mountains might see a dusting.
Surviving the January seesaw
If you're visiting or just trying to get through the work week, the best move is layers that actually block the wind. That 15 mph northwest wind on Sunday is what turns a "chilly" day into a "stay inside and eat chili" day.
Pro-tip for the next 14 days:
Watch the overnight lows on Jan 19 and 20. If you have sensitive plants or older plumbing, those are your "danger" nights. Also, keep the umbrella in the car starting Jan 22. The transition from the dry cold to the humid "milder" weather usually involves a messy period of light rain and drizzle that makes I-85 a nightmare.
Drive safe, keep the heat on, and maybe don't pack away the heavy coat just because it hits 59°F next Friday. In Atlanta, winter isn't over until it's actually April.
To stay ahead of the changes, keep an eye on the wind speed transitions between the 18th and 20th, as that's when the "feels like" temperature will be at its most deceptive.