As wintry weather descends on the Pine Belt, here is a quick update regarding a few hot topics…
Before you ask
The Top 3 questions I get are as follows:
- Is it going to snow?
- Do I have school?
- Can I drive?
Probably not. Check out the station website. And, it depends. How much are you willing to white-knuckle?
As the rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow all continue to develop, please know that the precip will continue to be steady through about 9pm tonight for the Pine Belt.
After that point, it will ease back to patchy areas of showers through midnight.
After that hit and miss snow showers through 3am.
You CAN drive. I just wouldn’t do it.
By 8pm, most of the area will start to fall below the freezing mark. That means anything that fell today – frozen of not – will start to freeze to anything it is touching. Roads are currently sitting on top of soil that is between 50 and 60 degrees, but with a good cold rain falling all day long, the ground temperature is likely to be in just the 40s by afternoon.
So once we get a below freezing air temperature it will only take a few short hours for the roads to get icy.
Bridges and overpasses are another story. They will start to freeze much quicker after the air temperature is below freezing.
To put it plainly: After 11pm tonight and before 10am tomorrow: I’m not leaving the house.
The Time Continuum
Rain is pretty hit and miss this morning, some of it is heavy while some of it is non-existent. The showers will fill in through 10am and we will be socked in with rain after that point.
A few rumbles of thunder will be possible today. In any of the heavier showers sleet or snow will mix in to the precip. So some folks may end up with Thundersleet.
By 2pm: Simpson, Smith, Jasper and Clarke counties will start to see the rain/sleet/snow take over as the predominant precip type.
By 5pm: Lawrence, Jeff Davis, Covington, Jones, Wayne, Walthall, Marion, Lamar, Forrest counties will start to see the rain/sleet/snow take over as the predominant precip type.
By 7pm: Perry, Greene, northern Pearl River counties will start to see the rain/sleet/snow take over as the predominant precip type.
By 11pm: Any precip left over will switch to mainly sleet/snow for Simpson, Smith, Jasper Clarke, Lawrence, Jeff Davis, Covington, Jones, Wayne, Walthall, Marion, Lamar, Forrest counties. But there won’t be much – if any – precip left to fall. So the snow will be hard to find.
Dat Cold Tho
After all this mess exits stage east, it is going to be quite cold.
Temperatures will fall back into the 20s tonight, only manage around 40 tomorrow afternoon and dip back below freezing again tomorrow night. Sunday? Only topping out around 40, too.
In fact, during the next 72 hours, 33 will be spent below freezing in south Mississippi.
That is nearly HALF the time between now and Monday morning!
So please check on folks that don’t ahve easy access to heat, check on the pipes, and make sure your pets and livestock around doing okay with plenty of heat and liquid water.
