The first cold nights in Mississippi, station by station
When the first night of 50°F or colder and the first freeze usually come at each reference station over the last 10 falls (a count shows where some years never got there), with the coldest week from NOAA’s 1991 to 2020 normals and the coldest night of the last 10 winters.
First cold nights and the coldest week at Mississippi reference stations
Station
First 50°F night
First freeze
Coldest week
Coldest night, last 10 winters
JacksonJackson International Airport, USW00003940
Oct 12
Nov 14
Jan 13 to 19normal low 36°F
10°FJan 17, 2024
GulfportGulfport Biloxi Airport, USW00093874
Oct 22
Nov 28
Jan 10 to 16normal low 42°F
7°FJan 22, 2025
TupeloTupelo Regional Airport, USW00093862
Oct 8
Nov 12
Jan 14 to 20normal low 33°F
4°FDec 23, 2022
MeridianMeridian Key Field, USW00013865
Oct 11
Nov 12
Jan 13 to 19normal low 36°F
10°FJan 17, 2018
Normals from NOAA NCEI; nightly lows from GHCN-Daily, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026.
The panel at the top of this page sets the next 7 nights at Jackson against the normal low for each date and adds the Climate Prediction Center outlook for the two weeks after. Enter a ZIP for your own town; it uses the nearest of the 4 Mississippi reference stations.
The first night of 50°F or colder is a fair marker of the first real front. At Jackson the first night of 50°F or colder came around Oct 12 in the median of the last 10 falls, as early as Sep 24 in 2021 and as late as Oct 19 in 2025. Elsewhere in the state: Gulfport around Oct 22, Tupelo around Oct 8 and Meridian around Oct 11.
Jackson has its first freeze around Nov 14, counting nights at 32°F or colder over the last 10 winters. Across the state: Gulfport around Nov 28, Tupelo around Nov 12 and Meridian around Nov 12.
The coldest night of the last 10 winters at Jackson was 10°F on Jan 17, 2024, and the coldest night of a typical winter there was 15°F. Elsewhere: Gulfport 7°F on Jan 22, 2025, Tupelo 4°F on Dec 23, 2022 and Meridian 10°F on Jan 17, 2018. The record at the Jackson station is 2°F, most recently on Jan 21, 1985, in daily records since 1963.
At Jackson a typical recent winter brings 31 nights at 32°F or colder and 2 at 20°F or colder, the median of the last 10 seasons.
Each night's forecast low is compared with the NOAA normal low for that date at the nearest reference station. A night 20 or more degrees below normal is an arctic blast, and so is a night below zero where the normal low is 10°F or warmer. A night 10 to 19 below is a cold snap. A night 5 or more below, or a week that runs 3 or more below on average, is colder than normal, and a week 5 or more above is mild.
The normal lows and coldest weeks are NOAA's 1991 to 2020 daily climate normals for Jackson International Airport (USW00003940), Gulfport Biloxi Airport (USW00093874), Tupelo Regional Airport (USW00093862) and Meridian Key Field (USW00013865). The recent winters, first dates and records come from the same stations' daily lows in NOAA's GHCN-Daily archive, the winters of 2016 to 2017 through 2025 to 2026. The 7 night forecast is the National Weather Service's and the outlook is the Climate Prediction Center's.
