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A snow map predicting more than 17 inches of snow for metro Atlanta on Jan. 9 and 10 has taken social media by storm, starting with a post in the Georgia subreddit two days ago. The post included a disclaimer that the forecast could change, but it suggested that the cold weather was consistent and that a low-pressure system in the Gulf of Mexico could combine with moisture to create a significant winter storm.
The map quickly spread across platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram. The National Weather Service (NWS) in Peachtree City was quick to push back, calling such long-range forecasts unreliable.
What Weather Officials Say
The NWS emphasized that snowfall predictions made more than a week in advance are rarely accurate. Current models indicate colder-than-average temperatures in early January, but there’s no guarantee that it will snow – much less 17 inches. Forecasters caution that even small changes in temperature could mean …