Rain is very evenly spread throughout the year, and snow can fall in wintertime, although heavy snowfall is relatively rare.

The Jackson metropolitan area lies in a region prone to severe thunderstorms which can produce large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

The storm, called the Candlestick Park tornado for a destroyed Jackson shopping center, killed 58 and injured 216.

These include electrical equipment and machinery, processed food, and primary and fabricated metal products.

Interstate 55Runs north-south from Chicago through Jackson towards Brookhaven, McComb, and the Louisiana state line to New Orleans.

U.S. Highway 49 Runs north-south from the Arkansas state line at Lula via Clarksdale and Yazoo City, to I-220 on the northwest side of Jackson.

U.S. Highway 51The predecessor route from Chicago to New Orleans, US 51 runs along with I-55 from County Line Road on the Jackson/Ridgeland border to Terry.

Mississippi Highway 18Runs southwest towards Utica and Port Gibson; southeast towards Bay Springs and Quitman.

Mississippi Highway 25Some parts of this road are known as Lakeland Drive, which runs northeast towards Carthage and Starkville.

In addition, the area is served by the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs from north of the city through Ridgeland and Clinton, Mississippi.

The northbound City of New Orleans provides service from Jackson to Memphis, Carbondale, Champaign-Urbana, Chicago and some points between.