Sleet, Freezing Rain, But No Snow for Franklin, Hart Counties

It was the winter storm – that wasn’t.

At least in Franklin and Hart Counties.

On Wednesday, we were telling you about a winter storm warning with expected snowfall of up to 6-8 inches.

But by Wednesday evening, most of Franklin and Hart counties were looking at just a light dusting of snow followed by some sleet and by midnight – nothing.

Franklin County saw less than an inch of snow, Hart County sleet and freezing rain,  Anderson County no snow.

Meteorologist Patrick Moore said the snow/rain line we talked about Wednesday morning, ended up not going through Franklin County as expected.

“There was always was a lot of uncertainty about where the line between the rain and snow would be,” Moore said early Thursday. “It turns out that line was more north of you. We thought it would be closer to I-85. Well, it was more like 20 miles north of I-85. And that sort of thing happens in these winter weather events.”

Most of the big fluffy white stuff that children in our neck of the woods were so hoping for ended up falling north of Greenville, into the Piedmont of North Carolina and the Asheville area.

Northwest Georgia and the North Georgia Mountains got the bulk of the snowfall Wednesday and this morning, thousands in those areas were reportedly without power.

Locally, Stephens County got the most snowfall,  about two inches, but by this morning, much of it had already begun to melt.

Moore said when it comes to forecasting winter events, weather systems in this part of the Southeast can change quickly.

“In this part of the Southeast when we’re expecting a winter weather event, a lot of things that have to come together at the right time,” Moore said. “And when you forecast these events, there’s a lot than can go wrong and everything doesn’t quite come together.”

A native of upstate New York, Moore said even he was disappointed we didn’t get the big snow as expected.  Temperatures today are expected to get into the low 40’s with gradually warming temperatures by Monday.