Cold/Wind Chill in Rankin, Mississippi

A continuous period of below-freezing temperatures in the area began on the evening of January 14th and did not end until the afternoon of January 17th, and temperatures fell below freezing again the night of January 17th. Wind chills as low as 9 degrees were measured by the ASOS site KJAN at Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers Airport. A 67-year old woman in the Cleary Heights area was found to have died of hypothermia.

As an Arctic air mass moved south through Mississippi, light to moderate precipitation was quick to freeze as it fell through the cold surface air. Although light accumulations of freezing rain, and sleet fell across much of the state of Mississippi, more significant accumulations of sleet over one half inch fell primarily north and west of the Natchez Trace corridor. Accumulations of 2 to 3 inches of sleet were measured in the Greenville to Cleveland areas. Area roads were impacted by slick conditions due to the glaze of ice and accumulated sleet.