A Snowy Winter

On March 9, Central Mississippi saw snow for the second time this year. Unlike the January event, this time the snowfall was concentrated in Northwest Mississippi, mostly in the Delta. The best summary of this late snow event is on the website of the Jackson NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO).

So what does it take to get snow in Mississippi? Most of the significant events tend to be associated with Gulf lows that intensify in the western Gulf of Mexico, tracking up towards the Mobile area. If a cold enough deep layer of air is over the Southern Plains and everything works out just right, it can interact with the Gulf of Mexico moisture to produce some frozen precipitation. The positioning of the Gulf low is crucial in order to provide advection of cold air from the northwest, as well as some overrunning or wrap-around Gulf moisture. Making sure that the winter storm is a snow storm, instead of freezing rain or sleet, depends a lot on the thermodynamic/temperature profile in the lower troposphere and the cloud physics.

It's been a snowy winter up north as well. The same storm that brought snow to Mississippi also brokes some records up in Ohio. Seasonal accumulations have been especially extreme in much of Eastern Canada. In Quebec, they're even starting to get violent about it. Look at how deep the snow has gotten in New Brunswick!