An Ice Storm Warning has been issued for Tallahatchie and 18 other counties in North Mississippi from 6 p.m. Friday until 6 p.m. Sunday.
In an alert, the National Weather Service in Memphis said "significant icing" is expected, with total snow and sleet accumulations between 1 and 3 inches and ice accumulations between one-half and 1 inch.
NWS said to expect power outages that last more than a day — long power outages are possible — and extensive tree damage due to the ice.
Travel could be impossible and should be restricted to emergencies only.
The warning area in Mississippi includes Alcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lafayette, Lee, Marshall, Monroe, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union and Yalobusha counties.
A few counties in northwest Mississippi — including adjacent Coahoma, as well as DeSoto and Tunica, so far — are under a Winter Storm Warning during the same timeframe. There, heavy mixed precipitation is expected, including total snow and sleet accumulations between 3 and 9 inches and ice accumulations around two-tenths of an inch.
In addition to snow and ice, this arctic storm also will bring brutally cold temperatures.
The Tallahatchie County forecast, according to NWS on Thursday, is as follows:
Friday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. North-northeast wind 5 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Friday night: A slight chance of snow before 9 p.m., then a chance of freezing rain and sleet. Cloudy, with a low around 24. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New ice accumulation of less than a 0.1 of an inch possible. New snow and sleet accumulation of less than a half-inch possible.
Saturday: Freezing rain and sleet, becoming all freezing rain after 3 p.m. High near 30. Northeast wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of 0.2 to 0.4 of an inch possible. New sleet accumulation of less than 1 inch possible.
Saturday night: Freezing rain. Low around 18. North wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New ice accumulation of 0.4 to 0.6 of an inch possible.
Sunday: Freezing rain, possibly mixed with sleet before noon, then a chance of snow, freezing rain and sleet. High near 25. North-northwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Sunday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 6. North-northwest wind 5 to 10 mph.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 23.
Monday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 0.
Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 34.
Tuesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.
Wednesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 39.
To keep abreast of the weather forecast, check the National Weather Service Memphis website.
