The week with the lowest normal low at each reference station, from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals, beside the coldest night of the last 10 winters, the median first freeze and the record low.
The coldest week and the coldest nights at Georgia reference stations
Station
Coldest week
Normal low
Coldest night, last 10 winters
First freeze
Record low
AtlantaAtlanta Hartsfield International Airport, USW00013874
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Atlanta against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 5 Georgia reference stations.
At Atlanta it is usually Jan 13 to 19, with a normal low of 35°F. At the other reference stations: Macon Jan 12 to 18 (36°F), Savannah Jan 12 to 18 (40°F), Columbus Jan 12 to 18 (38°F) and Blairsville Jan 19 to 25 (25°F). These are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily normals.
The normal low at Atlanta stays above 32°F all winter; it bottoms out at 35°F. Single nights still freeze: the first came around Nov 21 in the median of the last 10 winters.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Atlanta was 8°F on Dec 24, 2022, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 15°F. Elsewhere: Macon 12°F on Jan 22, 2025, Savannah 19°F on Feb 1, 2026 and Columbus 13°F on Dec 24, 2022. The record at the Atlanta station is −8°F, on Jan 21, 1985, in daily records since 1930.
At Atlanta a typical recent winter brings 22 nights at 32°F or colder and 3 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (USW00013874), Macon Middle Georgia Regional Airport (USW00003813), Savannah International Airport (USW00003822), Columbus Metro Airport (USW00093842) and Blairsville Experiment Station (USC00090969). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
