Gov. Phil Bryant issued a state of emergency Sunday evening for northern portions of the state, but as of mid-morning today, no reports of dangerous weather had been confirmed in the Golden Triangle.
Bryant’s statement cautioned people living in the northern-most Mississippi counties to take care on roads in the wake of predicted conditions projected to produce as much as quarter of an inch of ice on roads because of freezing rain and sleet.
No icing is expected in the Golden Triangle today, however, with the forecast calling for rain with a high of 59 degrees and an overnight low of 24, which should come long after the rain had ended.
According to the National Weather Service in Jackson, sleet and freezing rain may affect the counties near the Tennessee state line until this evening.
Counties near the Tennessee state line could get a half-inch to three-quarters of an inch of ice, up to half-inch of sleet and less than an inch of snow, said Marlene Nickelson, a meteorologist in the weather service office in Memphis.
That could make travel dangerous if not impossible. They say people also could lose power as ice takes down branches, trees and power lines.
“The rest of North Mississippi, from Oxford and Tupelo, could get up to a quarter of an inch of sleet and ice, changing to rain in the afternoon and then possibly back to snow late Monday night,” Nickelson said. Little accumulation there is likely, she said.
Most of Mississippi was under an advisory for winter weather.
“The whole state is going to be very cold,” Nickelson said. “It’s going to be a very cold week.”
The winter storm should impact several southern states, including Alabama and Georgia, forecasters said.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal issued a State of Emergency until Tuesday and ordered critical highways to be pre-treated with chemicals ahead of the approaching storm.
In Georgia, up to a quarter of an inch of ice could accumulate in more than a dozen mountainous northern counties that include cities such as Blairsville, Dalton and Dahlonega, the National Weather Service said in a winter storm warning.
In Alabama, ice could accumulate up to a tenth of an inch thick in some areas, with higher amounts possible near the Tennessee border, the weather service said in a winter weather advisory for northern parts of the state. The Alabama National Guard, emergency officials and law enforcement agencies were all put on alert ahead of the storm, Gov. Robert Bentley said in a statement.
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