Bridges, roadways and overpasses north of Highway 82 frozen

JACKSON – The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) has issued a winter weather alert on roadway conditions for motorists traveling in north Mississippi. All roadways, bridges and overpasses north of Highway 82 are frozen.

While the roadways remain open, MDOT officials urge motorists to use extreme caution if out driving tonight in northern Mississippi.

MDOT also said all roadways, bridges and overpasses in the northwestern counties above US Highway 278/State Route 6 are frozen for the remainder of the night and are expected to remain frozen until mid-Thursday morning.

While many counties reported at least two to three inches of snowfall this evening, some counties closer to the Delta reported at least six inches. Meterologist said with temperatures dipping into the low teens tonight, much of that has left many roadways and bridges completely frozen over.

Low temperatures are also beginning to re-freeze the remaining precipitation on roadways in Bolivar, Sunflower, and Washington Counties, even those that have already been plowed for snow. 

MDOT suggests travel be limited to emergencies only.

Sunlight and warmer temperatures on Thursday should help the situation as MDOT crews will continue to blade these roadways and bridges to remove the remaining ice and snow.

MDOT said that snow and icy accumulation has also been reported in Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Bolivar, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Clay, Coahoma, Desoto, Grenada, Hinds, Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Itawamba, Kemper, Lafayette, Leake, Leflore, Lee, Lowndes, Madison, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Neshoba, Noxubee, Oktibbeha, Panola, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Quitman, Scott, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, Tunica, Union, Warren, Washington, Webster, Winston, Yalobusha and Yazoo counties.

MDOT personnel will be monitoring the weather and the road conditions and will take whatever measures are necessary to keep Mississippi roadways open and safe for travel.

Motorists are advised to stay off of the roadways, if possible, and if they must travel use extreme caution and slow down, especially on bridges and overpasses.

Many schools across the state have canceled classes for Thursday, please check with local authorities for more information.