NWS Jackson, MS January 28, 2014 Winter Storm

Event Summary

Temperatures on January 27th were in the upper 40s in the northwest Delta to mid 50s to low 60s in southeastern Mississippi. However, a large upper trough was diving southeast, bringing an arctic front and 1032mb surface high pressure into the ArkLaMiss. Temperatures dropped rapidly in the evening as very dry air filtered into the region, with dewpoints falling into the single digits. The large spread between the surface and dewpoint temperature would be an important player in the winter weather event on January 28th. As the upper trough deepened and strong upper level winds began to move over the region, an upper level low center over northern Mexico to the southwestern United States began to merge with the strong upper level system and moistened the mid-levels of the atmosphere across the region. Temperatures were only in the low to mid 20s throughout the ArkLaMiss as the precipitation began to fall. Areas along and north of a line from around Natchez to just south of Meridian began to observe precipitation that initially fell as sleet but gradually transitioned to snow in a few hours as temperatures cooled in the mid-level s of the atmosphere and the lower atmosphere saturated from falling precipitation and evaporative cooling. Due to a warm layer in the mid-levels of the atmosphere, mixed precipitation occurred from south of a line near Natchez to south of Meridian. The deep melting layer caused precipitation to remain as sleet throughout most of the afternoon south of that line. These areas had a prolonged period of sleet before finally transitioning over to snow in the mid to late afternoon hours. All precipitation moved out of the region by around 6-8pm on the evening of January 28th.

In total, areas north of the mixed precipitation line had more significant snowfall. This was a heavy confined band of precipitation that dropped off quickly closer to the Jackson metro with areas in southeastern Rankin County having the highest snowfall totals. This area had 2-4 inches of snowfall, with maximum of 4 inches in the Puckett area. Snow tapered off quickly near the Interstate 20 corridor with only near ½ inch to 1 inch snowfall, with some locally higher amounts. Snow accumulation extended into north central Mississippi up to the Highway 82 corridor near Indianola eastward towards Macon but only a light dusting occurred in these regions. South of the mixed precipitation line, significant icing and sleet occurred in the region with upwards of 1-3 inches of sleet and snow. The significant icing occurred into far southern Marion, Lamar and Forrest counties.

Significant icing occurred on the roadways and led to multiple accidents and issues with travel. There was an extended hard freeze, with temperatures dropping into the low teens and single digits regionwide on the morning of January 29th. This kept lingering snow and sleet accumulations frozen and made travel hazardous, especially along and south of the Interstate 20 corridor. Temperatures only climbed into the low to mid 30s on January 29th before falling back into the teens overnight of January 30th. The region finally warmed above freezing on the mid to late morning hours of January 30th.

Click here for snowfall pictures from around the ArkLaMiss!

Accumulation Map

Snowfall Totals