ATLANTA (AP) — Temperatures plunged to 27 degrees in Atlanta and as cold as 17 degrees in the north Georgia mountains as some of the coldest weather of the year settled over the state.

National Weather Service reports showed that Cartersville and Dalton were among the coldest cities in Georgia before dawn Thursday with a low temperature of 23 degrees.

It was even colder in remote parts of the north Georgia mountains, where U.S. Forest Service weather stations recorded a low temperature of 17 degrees early Thursday in Murray County and at Brasstown Bald, the state's highest peak.

Temperatures were expected to rebound this weekend, with Sunday's high temperatures in metro Atlanta expected to be around 70 degrees.