Groundhog Day is Tuesday, but even in the event a groundhog makes its way down to Vicksburg, it’s unlikely it would see its shadow.

The area is expected to be hit with severe weather Tuesday during the day and evening, said Mike Edmonston, senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Jackson.

“It’s a pretty decent system,” he said. “Right now it’s looking grayer than usual.”

Edmonston said storms could arrive as early as noon on Tuesday.

“We’ll see a round of severe storms and the primary threat at this point is damaging winds in excess of 60 mph and some strong tornadoes,” he said. “The secondary threat is hail up to the size of quarters.”

It should affect Texas Monday night and progress eastward, Edmonston said.

Tuesday’s high is predicted to be 75 degrees and the low is predicted to be 46. The average high is in the 50s, and the average low is in the 30s, Edmonstond said, adding it will be an unusually warm Groundhog Day in Vicksburg.

“The record rainfall for Vicksburg is 1.93 inches,” he said. “Depending on how fast the line of storms comes through, it could hit 2 inches, so we could have a new record.”

Warren County Emergency Management Agency Director John Elfer said now is the time to be prepared for severe weather.

“Even though the forecast changes, and the significant threat is a little bit north of here, we’re still at risk of some severe weather,” he said.

Elfter said there is a chance of EF2 tornadoes, which have wind speeds between 111 and 135 mph.

“Folks need to be prepared with an alert system that works, shelter plan and an emergency preparedness plan in case we do have some bad weather,” he said. “Now is a good time to get ready for all of that.”

Elfer said the first thing people should do is get an NOAA weather radio.

“If they don’t know how to program it, they can bring it by our office, and we’ll show them how,” he said.

The next thing people should do is make sure they’re signed up for Code Red, the county’s alert system, Elfer said. The county and city websites have step by step instructions on how to sign up.

Finally, people should prepare enough supplies to last for 72 hours, Elfer said.

“In the event that we have a significant event it could leave people without electricity or unable to leave their homes,” he said. “ That means enough water, canned goods and dry goods.”

Find a list of what to keep in a disaster kit by visiting http://www.msema.org/be-prepared/disaster-kits/.