A powerful winter storm that’s sweeping across a broad swath of the U.S. blew into Mississippi on Saturday, leaving much of the northern part of the state coated in ice and creating dangerous travel conditions.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation said ice had been reported on roads and bridges in at least 26 of the state’s 82 counties, primarily in northern Mississippi. In a social media post, the agency urged residents in heavily impacted areas to use roadways only for emergencies as crews monitored conditions and treated major routes.

People hunkered down in their homes after stocking up on groceries, and officials warned that electricity outages are likely in some places if ice coats power lines or knocks trees onto the lines.

Local officials echoed warnings about avoiding travel as temperatures dipped below freezing. Oxford Mayor Robyn Tannehill and the city’s police department reported that several major roadways were icy on Saturday afternoon, with conditions expected to worsen overnight and into the weekend.

“Please stay off the roads if at all possible,” Tannehill said. 

Severe winter weather is a rare occurrence in the Deep South, so it can have outsized impacts because Mississippi has limited winter weather infrastructure. Ice accumulation, even in small amounts, can quickly make roadways impassable and increase the risk of crashes.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency warned that the storm could cause major power outages that could last several days across much of the state. MEMA had also urged residents days in advance to prepare by having enough water and non-perishable food on hand.

A blanket of snow covered much of the Delta. Clarksdale resident Myles Forrest said Saturday that he hasn’t seen so much snow for a couple of years.

“It was 50 degrees the day before and that was our warning that this may stick!” Forrest said in a message to Mississippi Today. “We are warm and inside with a bowl of Gumbo for my son’s Judah Birthday! He said this was his wishes for his Tenth birthday!”

Like many Mississippians, Clarksdale resident Joanne Shedd said she was praying not to lose electricity during the cold snap.

“I have gas in my house so we will stay fed and warm if we do,” she said.

Gov. Tate Reeves has declared a state of emergency and said at a Friday news conference he had been in contact with federal authorities to prepare for the storm.

Churches and social services agencies opened shelters in several parts of Mississippi, including in the capital city of Jackson, where advocates were working to help homeless people. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency published a list of warming shelters on its website and encouraged Mississippians to make emergency supply kits. 

The Associated Press reported that almost 12,000 weekend flights in the U.S. were canceled as the massive storm started to wreak havoc.

Roughly 140 million people, or more than 40% of the U.S. population, were under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England. The National Weather Service forecast warned of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina. By midday Saturday, a quarter of an inch of ice was reported in parts of southeastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and portions of Louisiana.

“What really makes this storm unique is, just following this storm, it’s just going to get so cold,” said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “The snow and the ice will be very, very slow to melt and won’t be going away anytime soon, and that’s going to hinder any recovery efforts.”

Correction, 1/24/2026: This story has been updated to attribute separate comments to Clarksdale residents Myles Forrest and Joanne Shedd. The Associated Press contributed to this report.