Sheriff's Message
Weather Alert
We were fortunate to have escaped most of the inclement weather last week. If our National Weather Service is correct in its most recent prognostication, Putnam County is about to get some significant, at least significantly different from the usual winter weather in Middle Georgia, accumulation of snowfall.
The current forecast for almost all of our county warns us to expect an accumulation of something between 3 and 5 inches of snow starting late tonight through the early morning hours of Sunday. The extreme cold temperatures associated with this "Bomb Cyclone" will continue through the weekend and that will mean most of the snow accumulated will remain on the ground, roads, and other surfaces for several days.
While a snow storm usually produces less damage to electric lines and roadways than an ice storm does, it nonetheless makes driving conditions hazardous. It's also going to be really cold and really windy. This will be the coldest weather we have experienced here in many years. The wind chill temperature forecasted for Eatonton at daybreak on Sunday is 3 degrees! Temperatures like those predicted will create real propensity for freezing water pipes, above ground well pumps, and engine blocks. People will need to keep their pets and other vulnerable animals inside as much as possible during these excessively cold periods of time.
Much of the public believes the Sheriff's Office and EMA somehow gets special weather forecasts and information that isn't accessible by the public. That is simply not true.
Below you will find a link to the National Weather Service where you can go online and get the very same information we get.
https://www.weather.gov/ffc/winter
There is a field up in the top left corner of that webpage where you can enter your zip code or city name and you will immediately go the forecast for that area.
I urge everyone to be prepared for this weather and have as much fun in the snow as possible. Lastly, I implore you to STAY OFF THE ROADS unless it's absolutely necessary for you to be out driving!
Howard R. Sills, Sheriff
