Forecasts for the Augusta and Aiken areas are showing precipitation and cold temperatures may bring rain, snow, ice or a mixture starting sometime Saturday, Jan. 15 and continuing through Sunday night.
The National Weather Service has not yet posted any winter weather advisories for the CSRA, but the forecast is calling for a 90% chance of rain with a nighttime low near freezing Saturday night.
The rain is expected to continued Sunday, but with temperatures in the mid-40s. However, the threat returns Sunday night with areas of drizzle and a low near freezing.
The area of greatest concern to see wintry precipitation is along and north of I-20.
Schools should not be impacted by lingering weather concerns. Schools are closed Jan. 17 for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Augusta Fire/EMA is tracking the low-pressure system and meeting with partner agencies to make sure all are prepared for potentially hazardous weather, including the possibility of needing shelters.
“It’s still in process, but no determination as of yet,” said spokesman Jason DeHart.
Find tips to be prepared at https://www.augustaga.gov/1905/Winter-Weather
In Columbia County, EMA Director Shawn Granto said they are ready to activate the Emergency Operations Center, should it become necessary.
“The Emergency Operations Center will be in a ‘warm’ status until the weather passes with systems up and running. Roads and Bridges are preparing equipment and resources for the potential of icy roads from Saturday evening until Monday morning,” he said, adding, “Fleet services is expediting their monthly routine generator assessment and maintenance schedule and refueling as necessary over the next couple days.”
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Preparations are also underway in Aiken County.
“At the end of the day Friday, we will make sure everything is fueled up and ready to go if the need arises. Depending on where our motor graders are, we may pre-position some to areas that we know we will work,” said County Administrator Clay Killian. “As for shelters, we have talked to our shelter partners and will be prepared, but they will only open if it looks like there will be any extended outages.”
Georgia Power is anticipating the winter weather and is prepared to respond to any power outages, according to a news release.
“The company is continuously monitoring changing weather and storm teams are ready to respond to customer outages caused by the winter weather,” the release said.
Customers can sign up for outage alerts, report and check the status of an outage at georgiapower.com/storm or by calling (888) 891-0938.
The city of Augusta has opened warming centers in anticipation of cold temperatures.
A list is available at https://www.augustaga.gov/2124/Shelter-Management.
The Georgia and South Carolina Departments of Transportation are preparing in advance of the potentially dangerous weather.
GDOT has more than 2,100 employees on-call to cover the state’s interstates and main highways. There is a stockpile of more than 50,000 tons of salt and 46,000 tons of gravel. The department has 407 snow removal dump trucks which are outfitted with a plow and spreader.
“As the forecast has evolved, it has become more likely that a significant area of Georgia will experience icy conditions as part of the incoming storm system. Ice adds a level of complexity, as well as increased danger, for our crews and motorists,” said Georgia DOT Commissioner Russell McMurry. “We anticipate downed trees, limbs and powerlines. It is critical that motorists take this storm system very seriously and stay off the roads through the end of the event to give our crews the space needed to work.”
District Two Spokesman Kyle Collins says he anticipates the DOT will begin to brine the northern most areas of Interstate 20 between Madison and Covington.
SCDOT is also gearing up for a busy weekend.
“We are closely monitoring the forecast for this weekend but rest assured that SCDOT is preparing for a worst-case scenario and will begin pretreating highways as early as Thursday, Jan. 13,” Secretary of Transportation Christy Hall said. ““The safest solution is for drivers to stay off the roads if at all possible. If you must drive, slow down and watch for crews performing de-icing and plowing operations.”
SCDOT has 2,500 employees preparing for the event. It has a stockpile of 60,000 tons of salt, more than 525,000 gallons of salt brine and about 275,000 gallons of ice breaking chemicals.
Interstate highways are SCDOT’s priority, followed by primary routes and areas near medical facilities and emergency shelters.
Both Georgia and South Carolina provide up to the minute road condition at www.511ga.org and www.511sc.org or by calling 5-1-1. The service is available 24-hours a day.
Weather for the CSRA can be tracked at the National Weather Service’s Columbia, S.C. website: https://www.weather.gov/cae/
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
