Snow returns to Atlanta for second time this year, freezing temps plummet overnight

The view from the 17th Street bridge in Midtown Atlanta as snow arrives on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Patrick Saunders/WABE)

Alessandra Tarantino / Alessandra Tarantino

This story was updated on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 7:53 p.m.

Snow began falling in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon as part of a system that led schools and flights to be canceled, government facilities shut down and MARTA bus and streetcar service to be suspended.

The metro Atlanta counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton were upgraded from a winter weather advisory to a winter storm warning running through 7 a.m. Wednesday. An area of Central and South Georgia from Columbus to Macon to Savannah remains under a winter storm warning and could see up to 5 inches of snow, according to GEMA meteorologist Will Lanxton.

The National Weather Service expanded the winter storm warning area northward to Atlanta on the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (Graphic via NWS)