Daniel Jourdan, 14, lands face first in the snow while body sledding down a hill near Drummond and Letitia streets New Year’s Day morning. Daniel and his friend Ernest Linson said they were out sledding by 8:30 a.m. (The Vicksburg Post/PAT SHANNAHAN)

[01/02/01] A New Year’s Day blanket of snow was enough for sledding in Vicksburg people and cars even though the official measurement was a mere 1.3 inch.

Wrecks continued Tuesday morning with six reported, including one that backed up eastbound traffic on Interstate 20. People were hurt in at least one of Tuesday’s wrecks.

Lt. David Beard said the Vicksburg Police Department received 31 wreck reports in the city limits from Sunday night, when the snowfall started about 8:30 p.m., to Monday night. There were also scattered power outages.

Around the city, however, people ventured out on New Year’s Day to the unusual sight of Vicksburg under a layer of snow. Sleds rarely used were brought out. Others improvised with trash can lids to slide around.

The wrecks, along with the cold and icy conditions, left traffic on I-20 in the westbound and eastbound lanes slowed almost to a standstill Monday around 5:30 p.m. Although long stretches were clear and dry, patches of ice persisted.

“I think people were just trying to be cautious and that slowed everything down,” Beard said.

Alana McCants, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, said the record books would list 1.3 inch, but rooftops and other measurable areas showed flakes at least 2 inches and up to 3 inches deep.

The sad news for snow-lovers: “We aren’t expecting any more snow or wet stuff at all tonight,” McCants said. “Of course it is still going to be very cold.”

After a low in the teens Monday night, McCants said another hard freeze will follow Tuesday night with the lows dipping down to 15 degrees.

More than the snow, the cold temperatures caused residents on Warrenton Road and Rainbow Casino to lose power Monday morning, said Bob Owens, Entergy network manager.

“The extreme cold caused some of the equipment to freeze around 1 a.m., and we had to do some switching around,” Owens said.

Most customers were restored within an hour and the rest, after about five hours, he said.

“Snow is really much easier to deal with than ice, so we were lucky,” Owens said.

Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said his department spent the holiday weekend working 58 wrecks in the county.

“We had a lot of people who ran off the road and they didn’t want a report, so those aren’t reflected in the numbers,” Pace said. “All and all, it went very well considering how bad it could have been.”

Pace credited the Warren County Highway Department with keeping the roads drivable.

“They were out right away getting the slag down on the road and that made a big difference,” Pace said.

Beard said even with no more precipitation tonight a little bit of ice could still be on the roads Wednesday morning.

“One danger is people building up too much confidence and thinking they can drive at normal speeds,” Beard said. “The best advice I can give is if you hit a patch of ice, don’t hit your brakes just let off the gas.”