White County preparing for another round of winter weather

White County prepares for snow

Plans are already in motion for White County first responders. Staffing levels for the fire departments and 911 dispatchers have already been adjusted for extra time. FOX 5's Tara Jabour has the story.

CLEVELAND, Ga. - For the second consecutive weekend, Georgia residents are bracing for a winter storm. While the previous week’s weather focused on power outages, officials in White County say they are now preparing for 1 to 2 inches of snow and plummeting temperatures.

Plans are already in motion for White County first responders. Staffing levels for the fire departments and 911 dispatchers have already been adjusted for extra time. 

What they're saying:

Don Strength, the White County deputy public safety director, said the prolonged cold is his primary concern.

"The cold, the duration of the cold weather, really has me a little more concerned than the snow, even though if we do receive 1 to 2 inches of snow travel it will be very hazardous in White County," Strength said.

Most residents have regained power following last weekend's storm, and officials are less concerned about the grid this time. Instead, the focus has shifted to the dangerous conditions expected on the pavement. 

Strength warned that the specific type of precipitation would lead to immediate accumulation.

"This is going to be a dry powder snow and every flake that falls could potentially accumulate, meaning that travel conditions will go bad quickly and whatever accumulates is not going to melt or go away anytime soon," Strength said. "I mean it's conceivable we will have travel issues around white county well into next week."

The county began pre-treating roads as early as Friday. Officials are asking people to stay off the roads starting early Saturday morning and to be prepared to remain at home for a couple of days if necessary.

"They are stocked up on supplies; they are ready to go. They will start pre-treating our county roads probably sometime Friday, if not today (Thursday)," Strength said. "They will treat as best as they can and try to stay ahead of it as we go throughout this event Friday night into Saturday."

Timeline:

White County officials said snow is expected to be the heaviest around 5 or 6 in the morning on Saturday. They are also expecting freezing temperatures for the whole weekend.

Local perspective:

"I'm excited, I never see snow. I’m from more like south (Georgia) so I'm excited," said student Danielle Bowlin.

Her classmate, Hannah Thompson, echoed that excitement.

"I’m excited too. I love snow. I’ve lived here all my life so it's going to be exciting," Thompson said. "So it will be fun down the hill and everything."

The duo plans to stay safe and warm while enjoying the elements.

"I’m excited to go sledding," Bowlin said. "I, living here, haven’t got any, so it will be fun."

Thompson added that the group has already planned their menu for the weekend.

"We will probably get hot chocolate, s'mores stuff and have a good time," Thompson said. Bowlin added they would be making "soup and something like that, winter stuff."