Mississippi hit hard

Vehicles were swept off Interstate 55 in Mississippi from a tornado that cut a swath 1/2 mile wide and nearly 100 miles long across the state on Saturday. Below is a radar close up from Accu-Weather of the storm crossing I-55 in Mississippi.

Nearly 17 counties in the state of Mississippi have been declared disaster areas after a series of severe storms and tornadoes swept that state over the weekend. The storms were part of a strong spring low pressure area that spread rain and severe weather from the plains, Colorado and Texas across the lower Midwest and into the southeast, Mississippi and Alabama. The death toll is at 12 from the weekend including 10 in Mississippi. Hard hit Yazoo City, Miss, was flattened by an estimated F-4 tornado with winds in excess of 160mph. Over 600 buildings were destroyed including churches and brick buildings. Trees wee uprooted and flag poles bent over at 45 degree angles from the fierce winds. Cars and trucks were swept off Interstate 55 south of Vicksburg. The storms are affecting south Florida today from the Everglades east towards Miami.


SPRING SNOW
The same system is bringing showers to much of the middle Atlantic and Northeast. The low pressure is currently over Ohio and will move off the coast tonight while an associated upper level low spins into the Champlain Valley. The combination of these two systems will produce a cold northeast wind across the region tonight. As temperatures lower rain will develop and slowly mix with and change to wet snow over the higher elevations of the Townships and Vermont/New York. A winter storm watch has been posted for these regions with 10-30cm of heavy wet snow possible above 1000 feet. The NWS is estimating the heaviest snow to fall Tuesday night around Jay Peak, Vermont. Here in Montreal and the St. Lawrence Valley, a cold northeast wind will gust over 50km/h with showers changing to scattered wet flurries. No accumulation is expected in the Valleys. Snow fell over the weekend from Calgary east into southern Saskatchewan and North Dakota. This morning a snow/freezing rain mix is occurring in southeast Saskatchewan with warnings in place.