City and county officials are ready and waiting to see what the upcoming winter storm will bring to our area.

According to the National Weather Service, as of Wednesday morning, the amount of snow expected has again increased to 4 to 6 inches.

The snow is expected to start around midnight on Thursday and the heaviest snowfall is expected to be around 6 a.m. to early afternoon on Friday.

Oxford and Lafayette County are under a Winter Storm Watch by the NWS from 6 p.m. on Thursday through 6 a.m. on Saturday.

With temperatures rising above freezing on Saturday and Sunday, local officials said they do not believe this will be a long-term event nor are they expecting a lot of ice like in January 2024. The biggest chance for ice will be Friday and Saturday night as some melted snow could refreeze when temperatures drop again.

Oxford Emergency Management Director Shane Fortner said city road crews are preparing the trucks and getting barricades and road signs ready in case a road needs to be closed.

“We’re going to get out there as quickly as we can to start clearing roads,” he said. “We encourage folks if they do not need to be out and about, then stay at home.”

The city of Oxford has a road-clearing priority map online. Click here to view the map.

Local schools have not yet announced if they are closing on Friday but are also monitoring the situation and will alert parents once the decision has been made.

Lafayette County Emergency Management Director Steve Quarles said county road crews are also preparing the trucks, removing tailgates and getting them reading to distribute salt and rock.

The county can’t plow and salt every county road, but Quarles said the initially targeted roads will be at fire stations and main county roads so that critical workers, like healthcare professionals and fire responders, can get to work and folks who need to get out for medical reasons like dialysis.

“But we do not believe this event will be the type to cause major transportation issues,” he said. “But we are monitoring and preparing.”

Fortner and Qualres are meeting with the University of Mississippi’s Emergency Management Team on Thursday afternoon to go over plans for each department.

The Oxford EAGLE will post updates and cancellations as they are made available.