Heavy, wet snowflakes blanketed the region overnight, measuring an unofficial 5 inches before tapering off late in the morning. Schools were closed as were many offices, but for the most part residents were taking the rare event in stride.

Warren County Road Manager Richard Winans said crews began working Thursday night to keep roads open. They fought the falling snow by spreading sand across icy roads and bridges, and continued this morning. “No roads are closed,” Winans said. “They’re all passable — you just need to drive 15 to 20 miles per hour, and don’t back up.”

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The temperature remained near the freezing mark all through about 12 hours of steady snowfall and were expected to rise to about 37 degrees this afternoon. Overnight, an expected low in the upper 20s means any slush remaining on roads will freeze into ice sheets.

“It’s actually not that bad out there right now, and thankfully there are not that many people on the roads,” Sheriff Martin Pace said this morning. “With the roads as slushy as they are, our concern now is they’ll freeze and be very icy tonight and tomorrow if it doesn’t warm up enough today for them to clear. Hopefully, this is short-lived or we could really have a problem.”

Downed trees and power outages also were few and scattered this morning, but that could also change. Entergy set its tally at 213 structures without power at 7 a.m.

“It’s going to hang around for a while,” Chad Entremont, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said of the frozen precipitation. “Even after Saturday there could be an inch or two that hasn’t melted.” Partly sunny skies and temperatures nearing 50 were expected by Saturday afternoon.

In one wreck, a pickup was overturned off the westbound lanes of Interstate 20 near the weigh station around 9 a.m., said Pace, with possible injuries. Otherwise, no injuries were reported in the county or in the city where Vicksburg Police Chief Walter Armstrong said about a half-dozen accidents occurred.

The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen declared a local state of emergency Thursday afternoon and gave all nonessential city employees a paid day off today. The county also gave all nonessential employees a paid day off and closed the Warren County Courthouse. City and county offices will be closed until Tuesday due to Monday’s federal Presidents Day holiday.

Mayor Paul Winfield said city trucks were spreading sand on bridges and major intersections in the city this morning. “People are out moving around pretty easily this morning, but we prefer they don’t do too much riding around unless they have to,” the mayor said.

With all Vicksburg and Warren County schools closed, a few kids were up extra early to take advantage of the rare snow day.

Just after 7 a.m., 9-year-old Laura Reagan Logue was already shaping a snowman’s head at Glenwood Circle playground with her mother, Tracy Boyd, who was also given the day off from work.

“The last time I saw snow like this she was 9 months old,” Boyd said. “We plan on enjoying it out here all day.”

Not far away, another snowman was being built by the Robbins family outside their Chambers Street home.

“I’m so happy it’s snowing,” said Emme Robbins, 10, as she helped her brother, Will, 13, and father, Scott. “I’ve never seen this before.”