Winter storm in South MS: Watches, warnings on Coast as black ice possible on roads
What the Weather Channel was calling a “Historic Winter Invasion” bore down on Mississippi on Monday, and the National Weather Service warned of below-freezing temperatures and hazardous travel conditions across South Mississippi into Tuesday.
At about 3:30 p.m., 60,000 customers in Mississippi were without power, mostly in a ribbon of counties from Walthall in the southwest (5,487 customers without power) to Kemper in east central Mississippi (1,947 customers without power), according to PowerOutage.Us. By Monday night, the total had fallen to more than 43,000.
By Monday afternoon, precipitation had passed over coastal Mississippi, leaving little more than wet roads, intermittent power outages and some reports of sleet.
Officials’ major concern is the freezing temperatures overnight that could cause black ice and hazardous conditions on Tuesday.
Every South Mississippi county is still under a hard freeze warning from the weather service until Tuesday. The Mobile office of the weather service also issued a “Special Weather Statement” for George, Stone, Greene, Perry and Wayne counties.
“Arctic air will move into the region tonight with temperatures quickly dropping below freezing from west to east this evening,” the statement said. “Given the widespread rain from today, any residual water left on area roadways will quickly freeze tonight. The most likely areas to experience black ice would be near and west of I-65 where there will be less time for roads to completely dry prior to the arrival of sub freezing temperatures. However, patchy black ice cannot be ruled out anywhere across inland southeast Mississippi.”
All six lower Mississippi counties are also under a wind chill advisory. With winds around 10 miles per hour and temperatures in the 20s and teens in Pearl River, Harrison, Hancock and Jackson, it will feel like temperatures in the teens or single digits, according to the weather service.
It is forecast to get even colder in George and Stone Counties, with wind chill of zero to 10 degrees.
Freezing temperatures, possible black ice
As of Monday morning, Harrison, Jackson, Hancock, George, Stone and Pearl River counties were all under a hard freeze warning from the National Weather Service.
Temperatures Monday morning were still in the high 30s on the Coast, but meteorologist Danielle Evans, based at the New Orleans weather service office, said they will drop throughout the day and reach the high teens overnight in parts of South Mississippi.
Pearl River, Stone and George counties are also under a winter weather advisory, indicating more serious effects are likely: “Heavy freezing rain or sleet is expected across the warning area during the day today before ending from west to east in the afternoon hours.”
Evans said that in Harrison, Hancock, and Jackson counties, the weather service is not forecasting freezing rain, but “it’s very borderline,” so people should be cautious on the roads. The forecast includes more precipitation around mid-day, as temperatures drop on the Coast.
”If the temperature drops a little bit faster than forecast, some of that rain could freeze on contact,” she said.
And when temperatures plummet overnight, any moisture left on the roads will likely freeze into black ice, Evans said. That means Tuesday morning commutes will require extra caution.
To prepare for freezing temperatures overnight, Evans said people should remember to “protect the 4Ps: people, pets, pipes, and plants.” Pipes should be insulated, but if that’s not possible, “let a very tiny amount of water drip through the pipes tonight to keep from freezing.”
Hazardous conditions throughout Mississippi
Beginning in Hattiesburg and to the north, conditions will be much more serious.
Nearly every county in the state is under a winter storm warning through Tuesday morning. Snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 2 inches was forecast for much of east central, northeast, and south central Mississippi. But northwest Mississippi could see as much as 6 inches, the weather service forecasted.
Mississippians joined more than 150 million Americans under winter weather advisories from coast to coast. In Texas, more than 2.6 million homes and businesses were without power, according to poweroutage.us, which tracks power loss across the country.
Power outages in Mississippi
In Mississippi, the site reported that 25,336 customers were without power as of mid-morning Monday. The worst-hit county in South Mississippi was Pearl River, where 339 customers lost power at about 8 a.m. before it was restored around 11 a.m. In the other five counties in the region, just a handful of people had lost power.
The worst-hit county in the state so far is Walthall, where more than 5,000 out of 6,806 customers tracked had lost power.
In Louisiana, the situation was worse, with more than 90,000 homes and businesses without power.
Mississippi Power spokesman Jeff Shepard said most of the company’s customers who have lost power are in the Laurel or Meridian areas. He said the prognosis for power outages would depend on how much precipitation accumulates and freezes.
“A lot of that will depend on the amount of ice that accumulates on power lines and on tree limbs, which then kind of snap and then fall into power lines,” Shepard said. “And we’re prepared to respond, as needed.”
On Monday night, Shepard said a total of 34,400 customers had lost electricity during the storm, but power had been restored to 28,300. The bill payment offices in Hattiesburg and Gulfport are scheduled to open at 10 a.m. Tuesday.
Lollar, communications director for the Coast Electric Power Association, encouraged people who are able to do so to keep their thermostat set to 68 degrees. That will help reduce strain on the system and lower customers’ power bills.
CenterPoint Energy asks customers to lower thermostats
To conserve natural gas as large swathes of the South experience freezing temperatures, CenterPoint Energy is asking Mississippi customers to lower their thermostats to 60-65 degrees during the day and when at home, and by an additional five to 10 degrees at night and when away from home.
The company is asking Mississippians to keep their thermostat settings low through Friday, Feb. 19.
The utility serves about 133,000 customers in Mississippi.
It is also the primary electricity provider in the Houston area, where about a quarter of its customers are without power.
Road closures
Officials across Mississippi and Louisiana are asking people to stay off the roads as much as possible to avoid hazardous conditions, including black ice.
On Monday morning, the state department of transportation tweeted that ice had been reported on roads and bridges in more than 66 Mississippi counties. The lower six counties were not among them, but Forrest, Lamar, Marion, and Walthall were.
In Louisiana, Interstate 10 at Interstate 110 in Baton Rouge was closed to both east and westbound traffic.
Pascagoula announced it would be closing the 14th Street overpass Monday night.
“The Pascagoula High Rise Bridge will remain open, but will be salted,” Pascagoula public information officer Katarina Luketich wrote in an email. “Pascagoula Police are strongly encouraging everyone to refrain from driving on bridges and to find alternative routes if possible. If you must travel, please use extreme caution.”
Cold weather shelters
Non-profits and local authorities are opening shelters for people who need a place to stay as temperatures drop below freezing. Here is a list of shelters announced so far:
Hancock County
Hancock County Emergency Management Agency Shelter at 18335 Mississippi Hwy. 603 in Kiln is open now and will remain open at least through Tuesday. People will not be asked to leave during the day. Anyone in need of a ride to the shelter can call central dispatch at 228-255-9191.
Harrison County
- Salvation Army Social Services in Gulfport at 2019 22nd St., Gulfport will open Monday evening at 6 p.m. and remain open through 7 a.m. Tuesday. It will reopen Tuesday at 6 p.m.
- Loaves and Fishes at 610 Water Street, Biloxi will open at 5 p.m. Monday.
- Please note that the shelter at the Kenny Fournier Multipurpose Center in D’Iberville will not be open as a shelter because it is in use as a COVID testing site.
Jackson County
- Salvation Army in Pascagoula at 3217 Nathan Hale Avenue will open Monday evening at 6 p.m. and remain open through 7 a.m. Tuesday. It will reopen Tuesday at 6 p.m. If no one arrives by 7 p.m. on both evenings, the shelter will close.
Trash pickup disruptions
WastePro will be delaying pickup in Pascagoula Tuesday.
“At this time we have decided to delay the start of Pascagoula services tomorrow (Tuesday) for a couple of hours due to the impending winter weather and possible road conditions,” the company wrote in an email. “If this changes and we have to suspend services all together, it will be posted on our website under ‘weather updates.’”
The Sun Herald will update this page with information throughout the day.
This story was originally published February 15, 2021 at 10:02 AM.
