[12/17/04] Snowflakes Sunday morning?

“It will be more of a reminder of the season,” is how John Gagan, a forecaster with the National Weather Service Office in Jackson, describes light precipitation that may occur during the weekend.

The zone forecast for Vicksburg calls for nighttime temperatures in the low to mid-30s for tonight and Saturday night as a cold air mass moves in. The skies will likely be partly cloudy Saturday night, turning to cloudy Sunday morning due to residual moisture in the atmosphere.

All of that could combine to produce a few flakes of snow, Gagan said.

But there is likely to be little to no accumulation on the ground.

Gagan said the soil temperatures are still in the 50s down to the 40s over the general mid-Mississippi area, so any snow that lasts until it hits the ground will melt immediately.

Although there were flurries in January 2003, Gagan said the last measurable snow in the Vicksburg area was Jan. 1, 2001.

Sunday night, the weather will be seriously cold again, with lows of 20 to 25 degrees.