ATLANTA — The state’s advance response to Friday's forecasted winter storm is rooted in some unhappy Georgia history -- and an ice storm that stopped Atlanta traffic cold in a storm 10 years ago this month.

On Jan. 28, 2014, 11Alive meteorologist Chesley McNeil reported a winter storm warning at 4:30 that morning.

Despite the widely-reported National Weather Service warning, schools opened. So did businesses and government offices. Later that morning, then-Gov. Nathan Deal attended an event downtown.

When he departed, he and his aides were alarmed by what they saw on the roads. "We came back up, and the apocalypse had already hit," recalled Deal's deputy chief of staff, Brian Robinson. "Everything was jammed. It took us an hour to get back to the capitol, which was less than a mile away."

Remembering Atlanta Snowmageddon

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AP Photo/David Tulis, File

Though the NWS had issued the winter storm warning some nine hours earlier, Robinson says a shutdown order wasn’t automatic.

"The sense that the state must make on the front end is, do we shut down a massive economy," Robinson said Thursday. "If it’s going to end up being a few snowflakes, that’s not that big of a deal?"

It quickly became a big deal. Motorists and schoolchildren stayed stuck for hours on buses and cars that couldn’t move. Deal apologized. His director of emergency management resigned.

When a similar storm forecast came two weeks later, Deal closed down the government. And similar forecasts have produced similar precautions ever since.

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ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - The City of Atlanta is gearing up for the first winter weather event of the season.

The Atlanta Department of Transportation (DOT) began treating roadways across the city Thursday morning.

“We have on hand 20,000 gallons of brine available to make sure we keep those temperatures up,” Atlanta DOT Commissioner Solomon Caviness said. “But we also have 55-hundred tons of salt. So, we’re going to get that out on the road as soon as we see precipitation on the way.”

Caviness says 200 DOT employees will begin 12-hour shifts on Friday. He’s asking Atlanta residents to give them room to work.

“If you don’t have to be on the road, stay home,” Caviness said. “We want to make sure that our crews have what they need in terms of space to get the material out on the road.”

The city is also doing what they can to help the unhoused population ahead of the forecast snow and ice, opening three warming centers in various corners of Atlanta.

The following warming centers are open 24 hours until Sunday, Jan. 12, at noon:

“We have been working with Fulton County to provide transportation to our homeless individuals,” said Atlanta Chief Operation Officer LaChandra Burks. “So, we’re making stops at locations, like Woodruff Park, where we see large gatherings of homeless, to try and convince them to come to the warming centers.”

Fulton County will provide transportation nightly at 8 p.m. from the Gateway Center, located at 275 Pryor Street SW in Atlanta. Return trips will be available upon deactivation.

While it’s unclear exactly how much precipitation we’ll see, Mayor Andre Dickens says the city isn’t taking any chances.

“We are preparing for what may come,” Dickens said.

“This too shall pass. So, we will see you on the other side. But in the in-between, if you could stay in, be safe, watch the local news forecast so you’re informed,” Caviness said.

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It Was Dark, Freezing and 4 a.m. Still, They Came to See Jimmy Carter.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to pay their respects to a president. They were not going to miss it, even if meant waking up in the middle of the night.

Reporting from Atlanta

The early morning sky was a pool of ink, and the air was violently cold, at least by the standards of a Southerner by way of Nigeria. Still, Cornelius Ani pulled himself out of bed on Tuesday, bundled up and drove in 30 miles from the Atlanta suburbs. He had to.

This was his chance — his only chance — to be in the presence of someone like Jimmy Carter. A president of the United States. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate. A Georgian. A man with humble roots he deeply admired. Mr. Ani, 62, expected he would never encounter anyone else like that in his lifetime.

“That combination can only come from somebody who is chosen,” Mr. Ani said, beaming — suddenly immune to the chill — as he walked away from Mr. Carter’s coffin, having come to the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta hours before sunrise.

“Give it all, give it all, give it all,” Mr. Ani, a civil engineer, said. That was the lesson he took from Jimmy Carter.

“It is invigorating. It is empowering. This is the best way to start the day.”

Cornelius Ani

The library had been open around the clock since Saturday evening, allowing anyone who wanted to step up to the coffin covered in an American flag to do so — to say a prayer, offer a salute, watch the changing of the guard, cry, or just stand there and savor the immersion in a moment that felt like a piece of history.

Soon after, Mr. Carter’s remains would be carried on to Washington, the next leg in a journey encompassing the former president’s long and multifaceted life. He would leave Atlanta for the final time. There was no big last-minute surge before the visitation ended at 6 a.m. In those last hours, the security officers and the crew of volunteers sometimes outnumbered the visitors.

Some arrived in scrubs and fluorescent vests. John Roberts, 58, put on a dress shirt, a tie and a gray sweater. “I feel like it warranted it,” he said. He came in from Marietta in the Atlanta suburbs, parked somewhere he hoped he wouldn’t get a ticket and went inside to say a short prayer.

“This is my final way to, at least at the end, pay respect and pay honor to him. This is my last chance.”

John Roberts

“I pray I live to 100,” he said. “I pray I live a life like he lived.”

Kim Jensen, an associate director of the Carter Center’s program for controlling trachoma, an eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness around the world, had already been to a special service for the center’s employees. Still, she wanted to come again, walking over from her house around 4 a.m.

“I did kind of worry he was going to be alone,” she said.

As humbly as Mr. Carter might have presented himself, he was nevertheless in that rarest category of figures known and respected around the world, the one occupied by presidents, popes and monarchs.

Death, it seemed, did not dampen the power of being in his presence. It was, quite possibly, the opposite.

“I just wanted to be part of history,” said Amber Seabrook Stokes, a chiropractor who woke up around 2:30 a.m. and came from Powder Springs, Ga., about 20 miles away. “My husband looked at me like I was crazy.”

“I wouldn't have missed this for the world.”

Amber Seabrooks Stokes, left, with Lailaa Ragins.

She struck up a conversation with Lailaa Ragins, a stay-at-home mother from Marietta, on the bus ride to the library, and they came out of the visitation together. They bonded over their affection for Mr. Carter and the realization they lived not too far from each other.

Ms. Ragins wanted to come before her children woke up. She felt a connection to Mr. Carter because of their shared Christian faith, she said, and because of Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit long associated with Mr. Carter. Her family moved into a Habitat house when she was a child. She remembered her mother going to do her “sweat hours” every Saturday, the in-kind down payment required to buy one of the nonprofit’s homes.

She left feeling joyful.

“This life is not all there is,” Ms. Ragins, 39, said. “His soul is with God. He’s with his wife. His soul is free.”

Mel Selcho, 53, huddled by a heater outside and welcomed people in. “There are not a lot of men I would stand in the cold for,” Ms. Selcho joked. She could have been one of the volunteers inside. But being “a professional shusher,” as she called it, was not for her. This role suited her better.

“There are not a lot of men I would stand in the cold for.”

Mel Selcho

“Here to see President Carter?” she asked people walking up.

“President Carter is waiting for you!”

As a girl in Utah, where Mr. Carter was not so popular, she was one of a handful of students in her elementary school who voted for him in a mock election. “He’s always had a special place in my heart,” she said.

When she had her own chance to step up to pay her respects, she got emotional. “I was very surprised I teared up,” she said.

Others had the same unexpected response. Watery eyes that morning were not caused by blustery wind alone.

“I was there five to 10 minutes, tears literally falling down my face,” said LaSonya Burton, another volunteer on the overnight shift who came from Douglas County, about 25 miles west of Atlanta.

She had never been to the Carter Center before, and now she was instructing visitors to sign the guest books.

“He was a great example, not only as an American but as a Christian.”

Thomasina Lentz

Binders had been stuffed with messages in a variety of languages and more than a few renderings of peanuts, including one with a toothy grin and angel’s wings. A family from Ellenwood, Ga., sat down and filled up pages. (A brief excerpt: “Exhibiting meek is not weak,” one of them wrote.) Most people just jotted down a few words.

The world will miss you & so will Atlanta.

Thank you for tirelessly working for a cleaner, safer, better and fairer world. I will carry your message. I’m sorry we let you down.

My Aunt Kathryn met you in her 80s in North Carolina & was giddy as a school girl.

You rule Jimmy

By 5 a.m., the end of the visitation loomed. The size of the crowd picked up slightly. “One more hour!” Ms. Selcho called out.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Antonio Hatch, right, with Joshua Newsome.

Joshua Newsome, 24, and Antonio Hatch, 25, in their black, puffy winter jackets, rode over on their bicycles. “It was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Mr. Hatch said, “and a bit of an adventure with the cold, so we got up stupidly early.”

The experience was powerful. “It’s a moment of honor and respect,” Mr. Newsome said. But he also conceded the gravity of that moment, and what he would ultimately take from it, had not set in yet. “I think I have to wake up a little bit,” he said before pedaling home in the dark.

Read by Rick Rojas

Audio produced by Sarah Diamond.

Rick Rojas is the Atlanta bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of the South. More about Rick Rojas

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 9, 2025, Section A, Page 16 of the New York edition with the headline: In the Predawn Cold of Atlanta, They Came to Bid Farewell to Their President. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

See more on: Carter Center, Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter

The Life and Legacy of Jimmy Carter

The winter storm that Severe Weather Team 2 has been tracking all week is now making its way into north Georgia.

Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz says the Winter Storm Warning has been adjusted to start at 5 a.m. That’s two hours earlier than originally issued.

“In general, the message is still the same,” Nitz said. “The significant impacts will be from snow, sleet and freezing rain.”

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The significant impacts will be snow, sleet and freezing rain. Roads in several counties are now difficult to impossible to travel. Power outages are possible.

DOWNLOAD: Free Severe Weather Team 2 App for alerts | INTERACTIVE: StormTracker 2HD Radar | UPLOAD: Share your weather photos

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11:15 a.m.

Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz says the snow is now changing to freezing rain in the metro Atlanta area.

10:20 a.m.

Gov. Brian Kemp says state officials are thankful they were prepared based on the forecasts for Georgia.

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“I want to thank the media and our citizens for listening to the advice in last 24-48 hours about being prepared and winter ready,” Kemp said. “It is better to be overprepared than not in these situations. We’ve learned a lot of lessons over the years.”

10:10 a.m.

GEMA Director Chris Stallings urges people once again to stay off the roads so crews can get out to clear the roads.

9:42 a.m.

The ground stop at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta has been extended until 12 p.m.

9:39 a.m.

Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt says cars are having trouble navigating roads like Barrett Parkway and Johnson Ferry Road.

“This stuff has just been sticking and causing havoc,” Cavitt said on Channel 2 Action News. “We cannot and will not go into residential roads. Those are going to be untreated. They will be extremely hazardous.”

9:30 a.m.

9:15 a.m.

MARTA has suspended bus services and rail lines will move to a weekend operating schedule. Green Line service is running from Bankhead to Vine City.

9:00 a.m.

Meteorologist Brian Monahan just got some new accumulation numbers.

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At least two to three inches of snow have been measured so far across metro Atlanta. There could be some areas that may end up with around four inches before the snow starts to transition to a wintry mix.

8:35 a.m.

Snow in Midtown

The snow is coming down QUICKLY. Some areas have already seen up to 2 inches of snow accumulations. Here's Meteorologist Eboni Deon with the latest 2wsb.tv/3PuAqCt

Posted by WSB-TV on Friday, January 10, 2025

8:21 a.m.

GEMA urges everyone to stay off the roads and enjoy the view from home.

8:15 a.m.

The Federal Aviation Administration website shows a ground stop has been issued at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The ground stop will be until 10 a.m.

“Departures to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International are grounded due to other. Probability of extension is medium (30-60%). Carrier DAL only flights included.”

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So far, there have been 607 cancellations and 344 delays as of 8:15 a.m.

7:44 a.m.

The snow is picking up in the northern suburbs of metro Atlanta. Channel 2′s Michael Seiden is on Buford Road in Cumming, Georgia where giant flakes of snow are coming down.

7:30 a.m.

Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz says at least an inch of snow has accumulated for parts of the metro.

Channel 2′s Michele Newell is reporting from Cobb County, where the snow has covered Windy Hill Road in Marietta. Please remember to stay off the roads if travel isn’t necessary.

7:00 a.m.

Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz just drove to our studios and says the roads are getting covered in snow in midtown Atlanta. The accumulation will pick up as we head through the morning.

6:31 a.m.

The snow is picking up across metro Atlanta now. Our WSB-TV studios is getting snow in midtown Atlanta and our Skyline camera is also showing snow in downtown Atlanta.

6:15 a.m.

Channel 2 Action News viewers are sending videos and photos of the sleet and snow along west Georgia. So far, we’ve gotten videos from folks in Carroll County, Troup County and other western counties.

6:00 a.m.

Meteorologist Brian Monahan says some accumulation is happening in Lamar County, which is under a winter weather advisory.

5:30 a.m.

The sleet that Channel 2′s Darryn Moore saw in Carroll County is now turning to snow.

Meanwhile in other parts of metro Atlanta, we’re getting reports of ice starting to form with the road temperatures getting colder. Triple Team Traffic’s Mike Shields is watching out for slick spots that may develop quickly this morning.

The main roads have been treated. It’s the secondary roads to look for.

5:05 a.m.

4:59 a.m.

The winter storm warning is now in effect.

4:48 a.m.

Channel 2 viewers in Newnan and Tyrone are starting to report sleet falling in their yards.

4:36 a.m.

Channel 2′s Darryn Moore is in Carroll County, where he is starting to see some freezing rain in the area. Channel 2′s Ashli Lincoln is in Douglas County, where she is also starting to see some sleet along the Fairburn Road area.

4:29 a.m.

Triple Team Traffic’s Mike Shields is keeping an eye on Interstate 20 on the Georgia-Alabama state line and spotted a few flakes falling on the Georgia Department of Transportation cameras.

4:18 a.m.

Monahan says while the snow and sleet is moving in, the air is still dry for most of north Georgia and that’s why you aren’t seeing anything hit the ground yet. That will change as the morning progresses.

4:05 a.m.

FlightAware shows that nearly 500 flights have been canceled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The winter storm that is now moving into Georgia caused issues in Texas and Oklahoma. The most flight cancellations are Southwest, whose headquarters are in Dallas, Texas.

3:48 a.m.

The snow and sleet is starting to move into parts of north Georgia. Meteorologist Eboni Deon says most areas will start with snow and transition more to a wintry mix by late morning or early afternoon. The roads will rapidly change over the next few hours.

3:00 a.m.

Meteorologist Brian Monahan says the moisture is now moving into the cold air that is in place across north Georgia. Monahan says we will see several transitions between precipitation types as we go through the day.

2:27 a.m.

Winter Storm Warning starting 5AM Friday for much of North GA including metro Atlanta. Accumulating snow and ice are expected. We will be tracking the storm live on Ch. 2

Posted by Eboni Deon WSBTV on Thursday, January 9, 2025

8:27 p.m.

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ATLANTA — A winter storm is now starting to move into north Georgia.

A winter storm warning has been issued for all of north Georgia and will take place starting at 5 a.m., which got pushed up by two hours late Friday night.

“In general, the message is still the same,” Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz said. “The significant impacts will be from snow, sleet and freezing rain.”

Severe Weather Team 2 is tracking the snow, sleet and freezing rain mix, LIVE NOW on Channel 2 Action News.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Severe Weather Team 2 App for alerts wherever you go]

Nitz said the far North Georgia mountain will see mainly snow and some sleet from this storm.

“I expect we’re going to get some, if not all of it, across the metro, making travel difficult, if not impossible,” Nitz said.

TIMING OF THE STORM:

The air will be below-freezing by early Friday morning. The storm started to cross over from Alabama into West Georgia around 4 a.m.

Between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., the storm will move its way into the Atlanta metro with temperatures right around freezing.

[INTERACTIVE: StormTracker 2HD Radar]

As we head through the morning, around 10 a.m. we will start to see accumulating snow in metro Atlanta, especially the northern half of the metro and into the north Georgia Mountains.

The south metro will likely see a wintry mix with the temperatures hovering around freezing.

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“I do expect some snowfalls there in the morning, but then we’ll have more of a wintry mix as we head throughout the day,” Nitz said.

As we head into the afternoon, sleet and freezing rain lifts up to the north.

“So, across the metro area, accumulating snow early, especially in the northern half,” Nitz said. “We’ll start to mix in a bit of freezing rain. We’ll get some melting and compaction. We’ll have some areas where we’ll have white on the ground to start and then melt away before freezing, getting icy.”

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Nitz said in the afternoon, the North Georgia mountains will see more snow and sleet, and little if any rain or freezing rain.

By about 11 p.m. Friday, the storm starts to taper off and move out of Georgia.

WATCHES AND WARNINGS:

A winter storm warning has been issued for north Georgia and Clay County, N.C. in our viewing area starting Friday morning.

A winter storm warning is in place for Cleburne County, Ala. and a winter weather advisory has been issued Randolph County, Ala. in our viewing area.

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