Ice Storm in Mississippi, February 20, 2006

During the early morning hours of February 20th, and lasting through early afternoon, portions of the region saw periods of freezing rain. The amount of accumulation varied with only a narrow corridor from Northeast Louisiana to portions of Northeast Mississippi receiving 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch of ice accumulation. A large portion of the region did see freezing rain, but for the most part, accumulations of ice stayed below 1/4 of an inch. Across Northeast Louisiana, the core of heaviest freezing rain occurred from Southwest Richland parish across Northern Franklin parish into the west half of Madison parish. Here 1/4 to 0.4 inches of ice occurred and caused bridges and overpasses to freeze over and ice to weigh down trees and power lines. Across Central and Northeast Mississippi, the core of freezing rain was a bit larger and extended from eastern Yazoo to Northeast Winston county. Here 1/4 to 0.6 inches of ice accumulation occurred. Many bridges and overpasses were iced over along with ice on trees and power lines.For the most part, damage remained minimal as the corridor that was affected was rather narrow. Additionally, this ice event occurred during the morning and mid-day hours of a federal holiday, Presidents' Day. Due to the holiday, schools were off and many businesses were closed resulting in much less road traffic than usual.