Update: Mississippi ice storm winds down; accumulating snow possible early Thursday
After a brief break Monday night, rain and freezing rain is moving back over the region.
The National Weather Service (NWS) expanded the ice storm warning for the Delta early Tuesday to include much of northern Mississippi until 6 a.m. Wednesday.
The warning covers the counties of Alcorn, Benton, Bolivar, Carroll, Coahoma, De Soto, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Lafayette, Leflore, Marshall, Montgomery, Panola, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tippah, Tunica, Washington, Webster, Yalobusha and Yazoo.
Ice accumulation of a quarter to half-inch occurred over much of the Delta portion of the warning area Monday. Additional ice accumulations of a quarter to half-inch is likely across the warning area through late Tuesday with locally higher amounts possible.
View slideshow: Ice storm unfolding in Mississippi (Jan. 14, 2013)
Such ice accumulations resulted in numerous reports of downed trees and power lines and ice-covered bridges and overpasses across the Delta Monday afternoon.
"An upper level disturbance will move across the region today bringing another round of wintry precipitation mainly in the form of freezing rain. There is a potential for significant ice accumulations across portions of Southwest Tennessee, North Mississippi and East Arkansas," the NWS said.
Where lesser amounts of ice is expected, winter weather advisories remain in effect until noon Tuesday, covering portions of northeastern Mississippi including Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tishomingo and Union counties.
In this area, ice accumulations of less than a quarter-inch is likely.
Where temperatures will be just warm enough to support just plain rain, flooding will be an issue.
The NWS issued a flash flood watch through late Tuesday for the potential of another one to two inches of rainfall on top of soils that are completed saturated from the recent rainfall over the past several days and weeks.
The watch covers the counties of Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Warren, Scott, Clay, Lowndes, Choctaw, Oktibbeha, Attala, Winston, Noxubee, Leake, Neshoba, Kemper, Claiborne, Copiah, Simpson and Jefferson.
This does include the capital city of Jackson, which received a daily record amount of 1.48 inches of rainfall on Monday, breaking the previous daily record of 1.38 inches set back on Jan. 14, 1971. This pushes the monthly total through the first 14 days of the month to 5.44 inches, which is more than three inches above normal!
Travel is not encouraged or advised across northern Mississippi through early Wednesday, the Mississippi Department of Transportation said.
Many schools and businesses are closed and the governor has declared a state of emergency.
This is a developing situation and everyone should stay updated on the latest weather information as it becomes available.
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