Two Fat Tuesday parades change start times in anticipation of severe weather in South MS
Impending severe weather has already caused changes and cancellations to New Orleans parades on Fat Tuesday. But what about South Mississippi’s three day parades on Tuesday?
According to Megan Williams, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Slidell, you’re going to need to take high winds into consideration when you reach for those throws. Her forecast for parades in Waveland, Bay St. Louis and Biloxi calls for heavy winds, but no rain.
In anticipation of severe weather, two of the Mississippi Coast’s three parades have announced an earlier start time.
Waveland, 9:30 a.m.: The rescheduled Krewe of Nereids parade will now hit the road at 9:30 a.m., the krewe announced Monday afternoon on social media. “The main concern for this time frame is the potential for high winds and gusts. We could see winds of 35 to 40 mph from 10 a.m. to noon in this area and gusts greater than 40 mph,” Williams said. “We do not expect rain during this window.”
The krewe previously announced a change to the route after weather previously postponed the parade. Organizers said they will use the old route, lining up on Highway 603 and traveling east on U.S. 90 and making a loop-turn around at the Bay St. Louis Post Office to continue back west on U.S. 90 and ending at the Waveland Avenue disbanding area.
Bay St. Louis, noon: The Krewe of Real People parade, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., has been moved up to a noon start time, it announced on social media. The forecast for the Bay St. Louis parade is similar to the Waveland forecast, Williams said. “We are not expecting rain at that time,” she said. “The main risk here will be high winds, with gusts of up to 40-to-45 mph, and maybe as high as 50.”
Biloxi, 1 p.m.: The Gulf Coast Carnival Association will roll at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Executive Director Jennifer Schmidt confirmed Monday afternoon. Schmidt said that police believe it will be safe to hold the parade as originally scheduled. “While we are expecting gusts of wind, after speaking with police, we don’t expect it to affect any of the floats,” Schmidt said.
While rain is in the forecast, it is expected well after the conclusion of the parade. “We don’t expect the line of storms to move through until later in the day in Biloxi,” Williams said, “Like the other parades, we are looking at wind gusts of up to 40 to 45 mph, and possibly 50 mph. We don’t expect rain during that window.”
Severe weather in the forecast
Once the parades are finished, residents across the Coast will need to be on alert for severe weather, Williams said.
“A line of severe storms is expected to move through the Mississippi Coast beginning in the late evening. We could see damaging winds of 60 mph or more around 10 p.m.,” Williams said. “Residents should also keep an eye out as a few tornadoes are possible”
The National Weather Service’s official forecast from the New Orleans office says “severe weather, strong winds, and coastal flooding will affect the area.”
The forecast calls for thunderstorms to “move through the area during the afternoon and evening, bringing the threat of damaging winds and tornadoes, with the severe weather threat to begin around noon in western portions of the area as a line of thunderstorms moves into the area. It will then progress eastward through the afternoon and evening hours.”
The NWS says Tuesday’s winds can be expected to cause water levels to rise in coastal areas with up to 1.5 feet of water covering some low-lying coastal roads and lots during the time of high tide tomorrow. A few road closures may be necessary in the lowest lying areas.
This story was originally published March 3, 2025 at 11:37 AM.