Staff and Wire Report

Central and northern areas of Mississippi, including the Delta counties, braced for heavy rains Monday afternoon into Tuesday as 37 counties, including Lincoln, Copiah and Franklin, remained under watch for tornadoes, the National Weather Service said.

The tornado watch issued around noon Monday for Lincoln and the surrounding counties remains in effect until 9 p.m. Monday. The weather service said the system was generally following a path along the Natchez Trace Parkway from the Jackson metropolitan area into northeast Mississippi to Tupelo and Corinth.

Some earlier tornado watches issued for the Delta and north Mississippi expired about noon Monday amid a brief lull in a vast storm system that has pummeled a large area of the nation’s midsection and South. But National Weather Service senior meteorologist Mike Edmonston in Jackson said conditions will deteriorate quickly as more moisture piles in from the West after a stormy weekend.

“It looks like everything we’ve been advertising for several days is going to come together,” Edmonston said. “We’ve still got the potential for very severe weather.”

Gov. Phil Bryant declared a state of emergency Monday in advance of the storms that forecasters warn could trigger tornadoes, heavy downpours, damaging hail and flash floods. The declaration is an administrative tool that allows state officials to position and deploy resources to assist areas that are affected by an emergency. The State Emergency Operations Center also has been partially activated by critical personnel, poised to fully activate if necessary.

“This storm system has the potential to create dangerous conditions, and we are monitoring it closely,” Bryant said in a statement. “Residents should not overreact but should make plans now to ensure they are prepared for a variety of conditions, including strong winds and rains and the possibility of hail and tornadoes.”

Bryant also urged people to check where they can seek shelter and determine how they will receive emergency information.

Edmonston said severe thunderstorm warnings had already been issued for areas of the Delta along the Mississippi River. He said more warnings would follow along the path of the storm.

Forecasts called for wind gusts for up to 60 miles an hour and hail up the size of a half dollar and a threat of tornadoes. Forecasters said rainfall would average one to two inches across the region with up to five inches in areas east of Interstate 55.

Much of Mississippi was under a flash flood watch through Tuesday with the expected heavy rainfall.

Dozens of school systems in north central and north Mississippi let out early Monday ahead of the storm system.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency Director Robert Latham warned residents Sunday to be prepared for storms with “the potential to be very violent.”

The weather service said the chance of rain was 70 percent on Monday afternoon and storms were expected to intensify between 7:30 p.m. Monday and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. The National Weather Service said the system may bring a few isolated thunderstorms in the Jackson metro area throughout the day, but the really bad weather should arrive after 4 p.m. Monday.