Mississippi
La Niña watch is officially on: When will Mississippi feel its impact?
(NEXSTAR) – El Niño has officially ended, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said Thursday, and its cooler counterpart could be just around the corner. La Niña conditions are predicted to take hold over the Pacific Ocean as soon as July, setting the stage to affect our weather here on land.
The Climate Prediction Center issued a La Niña watch Thursday. The group of national forecasters say there’s a 65% chance La Niña forms between July and September. Chances increase even more as we move later into the year.
Odds are La Niña will be with us as we move into peak hurricane season. La Niña years are associated with more hurricanes and more damaging storms in the Atlantic basin.
This year appears likely to follow that pattern. Experts are predicting a record-breaking “hyperactive” 2024 season of tropical storms and hurricanes.
“The likelihood of a La Niña coupled with record warm sea surface temperatures is the reason the National Hurricane Center is forecasting an extraordinary hurricane season,” said Kathie Dello, North Carolina’s state climatologist. “States from Texas to Maine are making preparations for an active year.”
La Niña typically reaches its peak in the winter. That’s when it will likely have the strongest impact on weather patterns.
A La Niña winter usually means dry, warmer-than-average conditions across the southern half of the country. Past La Niña years have contributed to severe drought conditions in California and the Southwest.
Meanwhile, the Pacific Northwest and Ohio Valley tend to get more precipitation, and northern states can see extra-cold weather.
When we’re in a La Niña, water along the Pacific coast is also colder and more nutrient dense, according the National Ocean Service. That’s also good news for marine life, like salmon and squid, that live along the West Coast.
Between now and whenever La Niña officially takes over, we’re in a situation described as “ENSO neutral,” meaning neither El Niño nor La Niña is in place. With or without La Niña in effect, national forecasters are expecting an abnormally hot summer for nearly all parts of the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Mississippi
Thunder & Lightning: Mississippi State's Recruiting Momentum Continues to Build – SuperTalk Mississippi
Commitments continue to roll in for Mississippi State, and the momentum of last weekend is looking to carry into this weekend, where nearly two dozen official visitors are expected on campus. Brian Hadad and Robbie Faulk discuss the latest additions to the class of 2025.
Mississippi
Extended Mississippi sales tax holiday to take place in mid-July – SuperTalk Mississippi
Mississippi’s sales tax holiday is just around the corner.
Gov. Tate Reeves announced on Wednesday that the annual weekend where shoppers can buy goods without the pesky 7% tax tacked onto the bill will be held from Friday, July 12 through Sunday, June 14.
Senate Bill 2470, authored by Republican Walter Michel of Ridgeland, moved the annual holiday from the final weekend of July to the second weekend of the month. The legislation, which received unanimous support from both chambers in the capitol, also extended the holiday period for an extra day.
“We extended the holiday by an extra day so y’all can enjoy even more tax-free shopping in Mississippi,” Reeves wrote on X.
According to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, a sales tax holiday is a temporary period when sales taxes are not collected or paid on purchases of specific products and services. Sales tax is not due during the holiday on clothing, footwear, or school supplies if the sales price of a single item is less than $100.
The same applies to items that are purchased online — as long as they are ordered within the tax-free weekend period and the cost is under $100.
Mississippi moved the annual event back to the middle of the summer to accommodate parents buying school supplies for children in districts with modified calendars.
A full list of items being sold free of sales taxes can be found here.
Lt. Gov. Hosemann says new semester system is yielding positive results across Mississippi
The state of Mississippi awarded $70.9 million this week to nine providers to cover some of the costs of 24 broadband deployment projects in areas lacking high-speed service.
Among the awardees were AT&T, Comcast, C Spire, Conexon and other primarily local providers.
The state did not detail how much money will go to each provider, but instead announced which providers would serve which counties. In some cases, there were multiple projects in a single county, and sometimes more than one provider won funding in the county.
AT&T won funding for projects in four counties and Comcast won funding for projects in three counties.
C Spire, a Mississippi-based company that offers mobile and fiber service in the state, won funding for two counties. Conexon also won funding for two counties. The company started out several years ago as a consultant to electric companies entering the broadband business but more recently began offering broadband service on its own.
A third company that won funding for two counties is Swyft Connect, a fiber provider serving Louisiana and Alabama, as well as Mississippi.
Companies that won funding for a single county were Delta Fiber, DE Fastlink, Franklin Telephone and Uplink.
Delta Fiber is a local fiber provider. DE Fastlink is the broadband unit of Dixie Electric.
Franklin Telephone is a rural provider founded in the 1950s. Uplink is a local provider offering fiber and fixed wireless.
A full list of awardees is as follows:
- AT&T
- C Spire
- Comcast
- Conexon
- DE Fastlink
- Delta Fiber
- Franklin Telephone
- Swyft Connect
- Uplink
The award decisions were made by Mississippi’s Office of Broadband Expansion and Accessibility (BEAM). Funding came through the federal Capital Projects Fund.
The funding is expected to make high-speed broadband available to approximately 27,000 households in 19 counties.
Additional information about Mississippi broadband, including links to state funding resources, state specific Telecompetitor coverage, awards made and more, can be found on the Telecompetitor Broadband Nation webpage for the state.
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