Georgia Geography & Climate

Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River and runs through four distinct zones.

The Blue Ridge mountains occupy the north, where the Appalachian Trail begins at Springer Mountain and the state reaches 4,784 feet. Below them the piedmont carries Atlanta and the red clay that colours everything.

The fall line runs across the middle, and south of it the coastal plain covers more than half the state — flat, sandy, and agricultural. In its southeast corner sits the Okefenokee Swamp, over 400,000 acres of peat bog and blackwater.

The 100-mile coast is fronted by the Golden Isles, barrier islands behind extensive salt marsh — Georgia holds about a third of the remaining salt marsh on the US Atlantic coast.

Georgia is humid subtropical and the summers define it — hot, heavy, and running from late May into September, with near-daily afternoon thunderstorms that arrive fast and clear quickly.

Winters are mild, especially on the coast, which rarely freezes. The northern mountains are a different climate entirely, several degrees cooler with occasional real snow and ice.

Spring and autumn are long and excellent, and autumn is the most reliable weather of the year.

Hurricanes threaten the coast from August to October. The state's concave coastline gives it some shelter, but storm surge over the low marsh is a serious risk when one does arrive.