Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday declared a state of emergency in Georgia in preparation for the winter storm expected to hit the state on Friday.

The declaration activates the state operations center and mobilizes resources among state agencies including the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Department of Public Safety. It also includes prohibitions on price gouging during the storm and temporarily increases height, weight and length limits for commercial vehicles transporting essential supplies.

“The Georgia Department of Transportation, along with the Department of Public Safety, began treating roads early this morning to prepare for the approaching winter storm, and I’m asking all Georgians to help them do their jobs by limiting travel as much as possible in the coming days,” Kemp said in a statement.

“Hazardous conditions, including ice and snow, can develop quickly and make travel very dangerous,” he added. “Plan ahead and stay tuned to updates from state and local officials to ensure you and your loved ones remain safe while our first responders continue to work tirelessly throughout this weather event.”

The state of emergency is in effect through Jan. 14.

The latest forecast from the National Weather Service in Atlanta predicts a mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow moving into Georgia by sunrise Friday and continuing to push east across the northern part of the state — including metro Atlanta — throughout the day.

North Georgia is forecast to see one to three inches of snow, with higher amounts likely in the North Georgia mountains. NWS predicts a mix of precipitation types in Atlanta and southwards, with snow in the morning transitioning to sleet and freezing rain.

The area is under a winter storm watch from 7 a.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.

Due to the forecast of a winter storm with snow and ice, the following schools will be closed on Friday, January 10. Now Habersham will update the list as we receive the official notification from the school administration.

Schools

Tallulah Falls School as well as all extracurricular activities including the basketball games against Georgia Walton which have been postponed.

Colleges

Athens Technical College closed Friday.

If you would like to have your school or daycare added to our list, please email [email protected]

As the Bulldogs turn their attention to the 2025 college football season, the team will be entering a new era of Georgia football.

The Georgia Bulldogs 2024 college football season ended just over a week ago and the transfer portal entires, draft declarations, and coaching changes that subsequently follow the conclusion of a season have begun taking place. But as the post-mortem era of the Dawgs’ season brings changes throughout the building, Georgia football as a whole is undergoing a change as well.

This year’s senior class at the University of Georgia finished their careers as the winningest class in Bulldog history and were an integral part of the team’s two conference titles and back-to-back national championships that ushered in a new era of dominance that had never been seen by Georgia fans. But with the collegiate careers of the most successful Bulldog class ever now over, the Dawgs’ “renaissance era” of dominance has seemingly reached its conclusion as well.

A handful of the Bulldogs’ starters this season had playing experience in a national championship game. Names such as Malaki Starks, Carson Beck, Tate Ratledge, Mykel Williams, and others provided the team with real-game experience and a cultural understanding of what it took to win a national championship. But with the exception of a few returning seniors such as Oscar Delp and Dillon Bell, virtually none of Georgia’s starters in 2025 will have any experience in national championship games. Subsequently, the first-hand “championship experience” that is often required to win a national title within the roster has greatly been diminished.

As alarming as this news may be for Bulldog fans, it is certainly not the end of the world. After all, the Dawgs’ 2024 roster showcased numerous flashes of championship culture throughout the season. Flashes such as the team’s overtime win over Texas in the SEC Championship and an eight-overtime thriller against Georgia Tech at home prove that future rosters are more than capable of rebuilding the culture and habits that it takes to win the final game of the season.

The Georgia Bulldogs’ 2021 and 2022 rosters provided an incredible foundation for following teams to compete for national titles. But as members of those teams depart, conferences realign, and the College Football Playoff format changes, it is time to turn the page on Georgia’s “renaissance era” of dominance and usher in a new era of Georgia Football. An era that provides the team with a new championship culture and experiences that provide succeeding teams with the ability to continue the incredible legacy of the Georgia Bulldogs.

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