When will snow start falling in South MS? See Monday’s updated forecast of even more snow

A rare winter freeze arrived on the Mississippi Coast and sent temperatures plummeting Monday morning with frigid air and icy breezes that are closing schools, will disrupt travel and could soon blanket beaches in several inches of snow.

If the forecast comes true, South Mississippi would get more snow than the region has seen in years, with a freeze that endures for most of the week.

“The arctic air mass is here,” Kevin Gilmore, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Slidell, said in a briefing on Sunday.

By Monday evening, the National Weather Service said even more snow could fall than first thought. Forecasters now say the Mississippi Coast could get 4 to 5 inches. The region is under a winter storm warning and state and local agencies were starting to salt roads on Monday. Gov. Tate Reeves had declared a state of emergency.

When will the snow start?

The snow will start falling between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

The winter storm will start in Louisiana and surge east, first as a mix of rain, sleet and snow that becomes all snow later Tuesday.

Forecasters said the heaviest snow will probably fall between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday on the Mississippi Coast.

It will stop falling between 9 p.m. and midnight.

How much will we get?

How long will it stay on the ground?

The snow will probably stick around through Wednesday.

The Coast could stay below freezing for more than 18 hours between midnight Tuesday and midnight Wednesday. An extreme cold warning will begin Tuesday night through Wednesday morning because wind chills could drop between 8 and 15 degrees. The low on Wednesday in Gulfport is 19 degrees, with highs in the mid to upper 30s. That leaves little time for snow to melt.

“We’re not going to warm up,” Gilmore said.

Northern areas, including Poplarville, may not rise above freezing on Tuesday at all.

Snow will especially linger in shaded areas not warmed by the sun. It could make the wind feel even colder because breezes will blow off the snow.

“Those winds are still not going to back down,” Gilmore said. “It’s going to be brutally cold.”

Snow should melt by Thursday, even though some freezing temperatures will continue. Winds will also slow down.

The low on Friday morning is 28 degrees, but temperatures will rise into the upper 40s to low 50s. The low on Saturday morning is 33 degrees, but will reach the upper 50s or lower 60s later that day.

When was the last time this happened?

This much snow would be the most South Mississippi has seen in years.

The last time it snowed in Gulfport was 2014, according to the National Weather Service. About 0.2 inches fell in January that year.

One inch fell in December 1996. Two inches fell in March 1993. The highest total in the National Weather Service’s records was 7 inches in December 1963.

“We really don’t see snow a lot down here, and we don’t typically see snow upward of the amounts that are currently forecast,” Gilmore said. “That’s why we want people to be as prepared as possible.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2025 at 8:49 AM.