Large bands of thunderstorms pushing northeast through Mississippi today should reach the Vicksburg area around noon, bringing strong winds and anywhere from 1/4 of an inch to 2.5 inches of rain, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Jared Allen.

“There’s going to be a great amount of wind shear associated with this front, which allows storms to rotate for a long time and strengthen,” Allen said. “In the Vicksburg area, you’ll probably see a strong wind shift from the east to the south. Winds will certainly be between 15 and 20 miles per hour, with gusts up to 30 miles per hour.”

A lake wind advisory was posted for Warren and surrounding counties this morning, while flash flood warnings were in effect for southern counties bordering Louisiana and those on the coast.

The slow-moving storm front should move out of the Vicksburg area by midnight, said Allen. While the storms are being pushed by a warm front that originated in the Gulf of Mexico, Allen said today’s forecast high of 71 degrees will not continue through the week. Highs will be back in the lower 50s and upper 40s as another cold front sweeps through the region beginning early Wednesday.

“We’ll be right back at our seasonal averages, or just slightly below them,” he said, noting a forecast high of 53 degrees Wednesday.

Sunshine is back in the forecast Wednesday and Thursday, but a 70 percent chance of precipitation Friday could bring heavy storms again during the day — and maybe even a few snowflakes overnight. This past weekend, a light dusting of snowfall over Vicksburg and Warren County on Friday, and stuck to rooftops, trees and lawns through Saturday morning. 

“There’s a small chance,” said Allen of possible snowfall again on Friday, when overnight lows are expected to dip into the upper 30s, “or it’s possible we could just see some freezing rain. We’ll be watching it very closely after this front moves out.”

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com