On Friday, Jan. 10, the unthinkable happened: A snow day in Newton County!

In the early morning hours on Friday, snow began to fall across much of Georgia, and Newton County was not overlooked. School was canceled and businessesclosed as the roads became slick with ice as the county fell under a cold white blanket of snow.

Though much of the county anticipated only a light dusting, the results were much more significant. A thick layer of white coated the county in its first significant snowfall since 2018. 

The Covington News received over 1,000 photo submissions of snowmen, snow angels, families and pets enjoying the rare winter wonderland. 

However, the snowstorm also did some damage. Power outages swept the county, with as many as 2,500 outages reported across the county. 

At least 1,700 of those reported outages were in the city of Covington. The city’s electric department worked tirelessly, and by noon Saturday there were fewer than 10 outages remaining

The county government shared updates throughout the day, encouraging all non-essential travel to be avoided. Teams with both the county and the cities began work on Friday morning, salting and clearing sidewalks and roads.

“Because of you, roads were cleared for emergency and public safety personnel around the City and people are able to get out and about today to support the businesses and services offered around our community,” said the city of Covington on Facebook Saturday afternoon.

Newton County public works put out 75 tons of sand/salt, 3,500 pounds of calcium chloride and 7,300 gallons of brine. Throughout the storm, crews pre-treated 105 miles of road with liquid brine and answered 97 calls, which included ice on roads, scraping of roads, downed trees and blocked roads.

All local government offices and schools were closed on Friday, but they returned to regular operation on Monday. Though some snow remained unmelted Monday morning, the roads were clear enough for travel.