Weather Alert: Black Ice Possible Thursday Night, Friday Morning

After Wednesday’s high temperatures reached into the 70’s, you’re probably not going to want to hear this:

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City said icy weather may arrive in Paulding County and elsewhere Thursday night.

For real.

In a Special Weather Statement issued Wednesday afternoon, the weather service said rain mixed with sleet Thursday afternoon could turn into black ice by Thursday night as temperatures dip below the freezing point in many places.

Counties to be on the lookout include:

Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta, Dawson, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Hall, Haralson, Heard, Henry, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Newton, North Fulton, Oconee, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Rockdale, South Fulton, Towns, Union, Walton, White.

The weather service also issued a Winter Weather Advisory for far northwest Georgia.

Here’s the Special Weather Statement from the NWS:

RAIN MIXED WITH SLEET THURSDAY AFTERNOON WITH PATCHES OF BLACK ICE DEVELOPING THURSDAY NIGHT. RAIN WILL SPREAD ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH GEORGIA THURSDAY.

AS COLDER AIR SPREADS INTO THE STATE DURING THE AFTERNOON, SOME OF THE RAIN COULD BE MIXED WITH SLEET, ESPECIALLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM CARROLLTON, TO MARIETTA, TO CLEVELAND. NO ACCUMULATION OF SLEET IS EXPECTED.

THE RAIN AND SLEET MIX WILL DIMINISH FROM THE WEST THURSDAY EVENING. HOWEVER AS TEMPERATURES DROP BELOW FREEZING THURSDAY NIGHT, PATCHES OF BLACK ICE COULD FORM, CREATING SLICK SPOTS ON ROADS.

PATCHY BLACK ICE WILL BE POSSIBLE NORTH OF A LINE FROM FRANKLIN, TO PEACHTREE CITY, TO ATHENS. PEOPLE TRAVELING ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND THURSDAY NIGHT SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SLICK SPOTS ON ROADS, MAINLY AFTER SUNSET THURSDAY EVENING.