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Watch for winter’s freezing rain even with warmer temperature Hurricane season has passed, and winter is looming with its own grab bag of hazards, including freezing rain. In fact, the National Weather Service says freezing rain is the most significant winter threat to Georgia for the month of December. Freezing rain is rain that falls onto surfaces such as trees, cars, and roads, with a temperature below freezing. This causes it to stick and form a coating or glaze of ice. Even small accumulations of ice can cause significant hazards. Freezing rain is more of a concern to Georgians than snow because of often brings down trees and power lines. Just last year on December 15 a severe damaging ice storm moved across extreme northeast Georgia and the western Carolinas and left accumulations of up the three-quarters of an inch of ice. Thousands of trees were downed and power outages were widespread. On a note of optimism, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center is predicting a winter that will be warmer than av- erage, with “near-average” temperatures in the South. “Georgians need to prepare for the winter just like they do for hurricane season or springtime tornadoes,” says Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) Director Charley English. “Freezing rain and other winter conditions can be lifethreatening.” Winter weather is linked to accidental fires, traffic mishaps, hypothermia and frostbite. Weather experts say 70 percent of ice and snowrelated injuries result from vehicle accidents.
For information on preparedness and response activities, visit GEMA’s Web site at www.gema .state.ga.us or www.georgia 911.org. Other valuable sites include www.nws.noaa.gov or www.redcross.org.
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