Chances are good that Jack Frost may visit our area today — and he might bring his squirt gun, too.

Today’s weather forecast calls for what meteorologists refer to as a “wintry mix” of precipitation, meaning the forecasters know two things.

First, it’s going to be fairly cold.

Second, some moisture is expected to fall from the sky.

Exactly what to expect and how much is up in the air.

It may be rain.

It may be sleet.

It may be snow.

It may be a combination.

Who knows?

Despite all of our world’s technology, none of us can accurately predict the weather with 100-percent certainty.

We can put a man on the moon and split the atom, but we can’t be certain when snow will fall from the sky.

In a way, that’s frustrating, humbling and amazing, all at once.

It’s frustrating because, we humans like to think we’re smart enough to figure out the world. It’s the arrogant nature of man at its best.

Our lack of command over weather is humbling in a way because it forces us to accept just how little we know about our world and, in some ways, just how insignificant we are.

It’s also pretty amazing to consider just how complicated and unpredictable weather can be.

That fascination with the power of Mother Nature is what drives the popularity of television shows such as “Storm Chasers” in which people attempt to get themselves into the center of a tornado to study the science of the twister in hopes of understanding how they tick.

Interestingly, this weekend’s potential winter weather would have been considered extremely rare not too long ago.

The phrase “a chance of snow” was enough to get most any good, self-respecting Southerner to take pause.

In recent years, though, the white stuff has become much more familiar to us all.

That is a little sad for those of us who remember just how special a Southern snow once was.

Years ago, snow seemed to occur perhaps once every three or four years.

Now, each year seems to bring a good chance of a “wintry mix.”

As a result, snow seems to conjure little in the way of amazement or specialness.

When it becomes more commonplace, snow is just a pain for motorists to endure.

That is, in many ways, how it’s viewed in areas in which it’s as common as a thunderstorm on a July afternoon in Dixie.

Yet for now, none of us knows exactly what the skies will deliver today.

Hopefully, if snow comes, we’ll look at it with amazement and a sense of wonder at just how incredible the earth is and how our Creator made it.

Of course, if the winter weather continues to come more often, we may need to give Jack Frost a good Southern moniker soon.

Of course, having “Bubba Frost nipping at your nose” doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it?

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.