By Billy Davis

Miss. Department of Transportation crews were on stand-by Thursday to respond to wintry precipitation predicted for the Mid-South.

Forecasters are predicting a “mixed bag” of sleet, freezing rain and snow in and around Memphis. Chances of icy precipitation are less likely – but not ruled out – for Panola County.

“It looks like the worst is going to be north of us. That wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all,” said MDOT district engineer Richard Allen.

The potential for a winter storm comes as moisture spreads into the Lower Mississippi Valley in advance of a low-pressure system advancing east from Texas, according to the Weather Service.

Forecasts of ice and snow accumulations have shifted farther north since MDOT began preparing Tuesday for coming precipitation, Allen said.

The National Weather Service has predicted freezing rain and sleet after midnight Friday, said Daniel Cole, director of Panola County Emergency Management.

Panola County was included in a Winter Storm Watch issued by the Weather Service Thursday, which predicated a “potential” for ice and up to two inches of snow.

If icy precipitation hits Panola County, Allen MDOT crews will coat bridges with a salt brine solution that Panola drivers saw four weeks ago, when record-setting low temperatures settled over the region.