Snow in Mississippi: 'We are looking at a rather chilly day' after 7-9 inches reported
It may not have snowed in the capital city, but some parts of central and northern Mississippi were blanketed Sunday morning as rain turned to snow overnight.
Since there was no snowfall in Jackson where Ashley Morgan of Mobile, Alabama, was visiting family, she drove to Canton to play in the snow with her granddaughter, 3-year-old Margaret Richardson of Jackson.
Canton received between 7-9 inches of snow overnight.
Nearby, Whitney Lowe of New Orleans watched her children play in the snow at SAAB Kiddie Park in Canton.
“We don’t get this at home very often, either,” Lowe said.
The shift to frozen precipitation began around midnight, said Joanne Culin, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson.
About 9 inches of snow was reported in Leesburg, near the Rankin-Scott County line. Madison County, about 10 miles east of Canton, saw around 8 inches of snow, Culin said. Farmhaven reported around 7 inches.
"There is still some lighter snowfall that is pushing south and east across areas through the morning and into the afternoon," Culin said.
Snowfall drifted as far south as Jones County, which saw a dusting of snow, and Smith County reported about 2 inches of snow in the Raleigh area.
Power outages hit some parts of north Mississippi, including Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tunica and Panola counties in the northwest and Tippah, Benton and Alcorn counties in the northeast, according to poweroutage.us. About 3,500 customers were without power Sunday morning in Mississippi.
The system will continue to push east and southward Sunday, and the colder temperatures will remain, Culin said.
"We are looking at a rather chilly day across the area with highs in the 30s, especially across east Mississippi, maybe a little warmer in the west," she said.
Temperatures are expected to warm up on Monday with a high around 54 degrees in the Jackson area before dropping to the low 30s Monday night.
Tuesday will be much warmer, with a high of 61 degrees and a low of 47. The warming trend will continue through Wednesday, then is expected to be much colder the rest of the week with highs in the low- to mid-40s and lows in the 20s.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Clarion Ledger photographer Barbara Gauntt contributed to this story.
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This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Central, northern Mississippi sees heavy snowfall early Sunday
