Highest snowfall total reported in Mississippi was 5 inches

Central and Southern Mississippi enjoyed one of the earliest snows on record!

 Many locations received 1/2 to 2 inches of snow with a few areas up to 4 and 5 inches.  In Jackson, snowfall totals ranged from .7 at the official recording data site at the Jackson International Airport to just over 1 inch in South Jackson. This makes this weather event one the earliest snows on record and the first snowfall recorded on December 4th in any year in Central Mississippi!

This is the second year in a row for snow in many of these same areas.  On December 11, 2008, snowfall totals of nearly 1 inch to 9 inches were reported across portions of Southern and portions of Central Mississippi!  

The early season snow was caused by a sharp kink in the jet stream, which funneled cold, Canadian air deep into the South.   A strong upper level disturbance would induce the development of an area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico, that helped to pull in plenty of gulf moisture which was able to fall to the ground as snow, due to the cold temperatures.

The rare snows began falling late Friday morning into the afternoon across Southeastern Texas including Houston, where the city received its earliest snowfall (1") ever recorded!  The snow then tracked to the east and northeast across Southwestern Louisiana during the late afternoon bringing Lake Charles, Louisiana its earliest snow (.2) on record!

Snow tracks from Southeast Texas into Mississippi-Friday evening

Rain spreading into Southern Mississippi during Friday evening would quickly change to snow across Southwestern Mississippi, where a Winter Storm Warning was issued.

The transition to snow would continue through the evening with snow falling moderately to heavy at times across Central and Southern Mississippi.

This prompted the National Weather Service to expand the Winter Storm Warning across portions of Southern Mississippi as some locations accumulated over 2 inches of snowfall. (Note: Winter Storm Criteria in Mississippi)

This weather event lasted no more than 3-4 hours in any one location.

Snow reports across Southern & Central MS

While the snow was the main story, the coldest airmass of the season had to be the other!

Low temperatures plunged well down into the 20s across a good portion of the state with the exception of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, making this the coldest airmass of the season so far.

Even colder low temperatures are possible Sunday morning. 

Low temperatures Saturday morning

This snow event may sound minor to those from the northern states, but any snowfall in Mississippi is memorable.  And with a El Nino pattern in place, there will likely be more opportunities for snow ahead in the South.