Winter Weather — Southern Hancock County, Mississippi

2024-01-16 · Southern Hancock County, Mississippi

Event narrative

Nearby mesonet observations showed temperatures dropping below freezing around midnight on the 16th A short window of a few hours of freezing rain did occur which resulted in around 0.1 inches of freezing rainfall. It can be assumed similar amounts fell across the county as radar reflectivity was relatively similar over that area. Interstate 10 shutdown near the LA/MS border at the bridge across the Pearl River was icy.

Wider weather episode

A very amplified longwave upper level trough situated west of the Mississippi River Valley drove an arctic airmass well into the Gulf of Mexico. It's position, west of the Mississippi River, is common for previous events of very cold airmasses and frozen precipitation locally. Temperatures locally began to plummet from west to east on the evening of January 15th and into the morning hours of January 16th. A layer of mid-level of moisture riding over the colder surface was able to precipitate to the ground. Although temperatures aloft were too warm to support snow, subfreezing surface temperatures resulted in freezing rain and some sleet, even as far south as coastal Louisiana. Accumulation amounts ranged from a slight glazing to around one quarter of an inch. All local interstates, many state highways and local roads with bridges were shutdown due to icy roadways.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1159500. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.