The National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Prediction Center has issued alerts for a major winter storm expected to impact large portions of the US this weekend, bringing heavy snow, freezing rain, and severe weather from Saturday (January 4) through Monday (January 6).

Heavy snow and blizzard conditions

According to the NWS, “Heavy snowfall is expected across areas from central Kansas to Ohio, especially along and north of Interstate 70, with a 60-90% chance of at least 8 inches of snow on Sunday.” The storm could deliver the heaviest snowfall in over a decade for some regions, with blizzard conditions developing over the Central Plains by Sunday morning. Winds exceeding 35 mph combined with heavy snow are likely to create whiteout conditions, making roads impassable and travel hazardous, the NWS forecast noted.

Freezing rain and ice accumulation

The storm will bring significant freezing rain from eastern Kansas and the Ozarks to the Ohio Valley. The NWS warns of “tree damage and power outages likely in areas with over a quarter-inch of ice accumulation.” Additional icing is anticipated overnight Sunday into Monday in the Central Appalachians.

Severe thunderstorms in the South

The Lower Mississippi Valley faces an Enhanced Risk (level 3/5) of severe thunderstorms on Sunday, with the NWS stating that “frequent lightning, severe thunderstorm wind gusts, hail, and a few tornadoes” are possible as the storm’s cold front advances.

Great lakes and Northeast impacts

The system will also generate heavy lake-effect snow downwind of Lake Ontario through Sunday morning, while moderate snow is expected near the Upper Great Lakes and Lake Erie. By Sunday night into Monday, snow will extend into the northern Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Northeast.

Western US weather

Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest and Northern California will experience coastal rain and higher-elevation snow through Monday due to weak onshore flow and a series of weakening fronts.

The NWS advises residents in affected areas to prepare for severe weather conditions, monitor updates, and avoid travel if possible during peak storm activity.

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -Funeral plans officially begin Saturday for former President Jimmy Carter.

His motorcade will travel to The Carter Center in Atlanta, where people will start paying their respects. As you hear reflections on his legacy, you may not realize he made a quick trip to Mississippi in 1977.

It’s a visit Mike Espy will never forget.

“I was a second-year law student in a law school in California, and I was home for summer break,” said Espy. “I found out that Jimmy Carter was coming to my hometown, Yazoo City. So, of course, I wanted to be there.”

It would be a limited crowd, but Espy was determined.

“Very hard to get,” he said of the tickets. “So, I bent over backward for trying to get an invitation, and I convinced my mother to intercede for me. And now she got the invitation. I got it from her. And then I went.”

A crowd gathered outside but with that ticket secured, Espy was inside.

“It was held at the brand new Yazoo City Public School, a brand new building,” he said. “It was July in Mississippi. It was extremely hot. I thought that the air conditioning had not yet been installed or it wasn’t on cause it was sweltering in that room.”

A fact not lost on the President as he removed his suit jacket.

“He was just very approachable,” noted Espy. “He just seemed like a common person despite being President of the United States.”

Espy says they surveyed the crowd before Carter arrived to see who wanted to ask a question. He raised his hand but wasn’t asked what that question would be. I asked if he remembered.

“I asked him a question about this new weapon system,” recalled Espy. “And, of course, I was a smart aleck law student. So, I tried to pose a question as a contradiction between a lethal weapon of war and a man of peace, you know, like Jimmy Carter.”

He says Carter answered politely but put him in his place with more information. As Espy has had his own political career both in Congress and President Bill Clinton’s cabinet, he’s never forgotten that experience.

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A man on Mississippi’s death row whose conviction was overturned last year will remain on death row after a federal appellate court said the lower court made the ruling in error.

Terry Pitchford was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2006 for the death of a man in a Grenada County grocery store during an armed robbery in 2004.

The victim, Reuben Britt, reportedly was shot with two different types of guns. One of the guns turned out to be Britt’s, according to court records.

Pitchford allegedly took part in an earlier attempted robbery of the grocery store. When investigators with the Grenada County Sheriff’s Office searched the vehicle that witnesses said they saw at the grocery store, they found the victim’s gun.

The vehicle was parked outside Pitchford’s house.

Earlier story: Man on death row, tried by same prosecutor in Curtis Flowers’ case, will get a new trial

In 2023, Terry Pitchford’s conviction and death sentence were set aside and a new trial ordered by a federal district court judge.

Despite the ruling, the 39-year-old remained listed on the Mississippi Department of Corrections’ death row while Mississippi Attorney Lynn Fitch appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mississippi’s death row: A closer look as AG Fitch seeks execution dates for prisoners

On Friday, the conviction and sentence were reinstated by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals after it determined the judge in Pitchford’s case considered whether the elimination of four potential jurors who were Black was racially motivated.

U.S. District Judge Michael Mills of the Mississippi Northern District said the state Supreme Court erred when it ruled in Pitchford’s 2010 appeal that the trial court did not excuse four out of five potential Black jurors because of their skin color.

The trial judge said the prosecution was able to prove the non-white members of the jury pool were all dismissed for valid reasons that had nothing to do with race. He allowed the trial to begin with 11 white and one Black juror with two white alternates.

The racial makeup of Grenada County was about 40% Black at the time of Pitchford’s trial.

Pitchford admitted to his role in the crime, but said he did not shoot Britt. According to court documents, Pitchford and his friend Eric Bullin went to the Crossroads Grocery store intending to rob it.

The intended robbery turned deadly when Bullin shot Britt three times with a .22 caliber pistol, while Pitchford said he fired shots into the floor. Bullin is serving 60 years for five crimes, including 20 years for manslaughter, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections records.

Lici Beveridge is a reporter for the Hattiesburg American and Clarion Ledger. Contact her at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X  @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.