Mississippi is the birthplace of the blues, a land of mighty rivers, antebellum mansions, and some of the most soulful cooking in America. From the cotton fields of the Delta where Elvis Presley was born and B.B. King learned to play, to the white-sand beaches of the Gulf Coast and the grand antebellum homes of Natchez, Mississippi offers visitors an authentic dive into Southern culture, music, and history.
Mississippi has a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and mild winters. The Gulf Coast is the warmest and most temperate region year-round, with rarely freezing winters and warm spring and fall weather. The Delta and central Mississippi experience more extreme heat in summer and occasional cold snaps in winter. Rainfall is distributed throughout the year, with late winter and spring being the wettest period. Hurricane season (June-November) requires monitoring on the Gulf Coast, with August and September being the highest-risk months.
Best time to visit
Best: Year-round
Avoid: None
Month-by-month weather
Typical conditions throughout the year.
Items
The seasons
What to expect in each part of the year.
Items
Crowds & peak times
When to expect tourists and when to avoid them.
- Items
- Period
- Natchez Spring Pilgrimage (late March-April)
- Level
- High
- Notes
- Book antebellum B&Bs 4-6 weeks in advance; mansion tours sell out
- Period
- Gulf Coast (June-August)
- Level
- High
- Notes
- Casino resorts and Gulf beaches pack out; book 2-3 months ahead for summer weekends
- Period
- Ole Miss Football Season (September-November)
- Level
- Very High in Oxford
- Notes
- Oxford hotels sell out for home game Saturdays; prices triple — book months ahead or stay in Tupelo
- Period
- Elvis Week, Tupelo (June)
- Level
- Medium-High
- Notes
- Annual festival with concerts and events at the Elvis birthplace
- Period
- Delta Blues Festival, Greenville (September)
- Level
- Medium
- Notes
- Third weekend of September; Greenville hotels fill up
- Period
- Off-season (January-February, November)
- Level
- Low
- Notes
- Best rates statewide; most attractions are open with minimal waits
Major events & festivals
Time your visit around what matters.
Opens dozens of antebellum plantation homes to the public; tickets at natchezpilgrimage.com
When: Late March-April
26.2-mile race through Jackson with a blues music theme; msbluesmarathon.com
When: January (Martin Luther King Jr. weekend)
Annual multi-day celebration at the Elvis Presley birthplace and BancorpSouth Arena in Tupelo; elvisfestival.com
When: June
One of America's oldest blues festivals in Greenville; msbluestrail.com
When: Third weekend of September
Second major home-opening season in Natchez; candlelight tours available; natchezpilgrimage.com
When: October
Tailgating in The Grove at Ole Miss (Oxford) is a world-famous spectacle; schedule at olemisssports.com
When: September-November