Wintry Monday, and Thursday?

A peek at the radar this afternoon shows lots of rain across the southeastern states and Lower Mississippi Valley. The cold front that helped usher in the much colder air we are currently experiencing stalled over south-central Mississippi into central Alabama. However, our upper air flow continues to be out of the southwest which is helping to create an "over-running" situation where warm, moist air overrides shallow cold air at the surface.

This particular setup actually is conducive for frozen precipitation. Temperatures across west-central Mississippi, mainly along and west of I-55 and north of I-20, are at or below freezing at this Noon hour.  As a result, the National Weather Service in Jackson has issued an Ice Storm Warning with freezing rain advisories surrounding that as seen on the map below with the shades of dark purple.

Here, the greatest intensity of freezing rain is expected and upwards of between a quarter and half inch of ice is expected to accumulate in these areas. This will create very hazardous driving conditions as roads will become slippery. Additionally, ice will accumulate on trees and power lines which may cause power outages and some trees to topple. This is a very serious winter weather situation and if anyone is traveling towards this region, or anywhere shaded in purple above, should exercise extreme caution and consider delaying any commutes until tomorrow afternoon.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, a southwesterly flow will continue aloft. This will continue to create widespread showers across not only the GTR but most of Mississippi and Alabama as well. Here's a look at projected rain for tomorrow afternoon from the 12z NAM this morning:

This broad southwesterly flow will continue through mid-week before a strong upper level approaches the area from the west. This will bring another chance of widespread rain Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Despite surface temperatures projected to be in the upper 30s during this timeframe, some evaporative cooling could occur and a brief rain/snow mix before the system departs later Thursday. The suns will finally return to our area by the end of the week along with some moderating temperatures, into the mid 50s by Saturday.

Stay safe out there, and God Bless!

IW