JACKSON, Miss. — A night of unseasonably warm weather generated torrential rains and tornadoes that damaged two schools and dozens of homes in the Southeast, and some states were bracing for snow and sleet as temperatures drop today.

Sleet was possible today in areas of Louisiana and the National Weather Service issued a winter weather watch for parts of Mississippi, warning that a rare snowfall accumulation was possible.

Mike Edmonston, senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Jackson, Miss., said forecasters were predicting 1 to 3 inches over central and eastern portions of Mississippi, but some areas could see 4 inches or more.

Mississippi averages around 2 inches of snow a year and that usually comes sporadically with little accumulation.

The winter precipitation threatened to hit before many people could clean up the mess left by powerful storms and likely tornadoes that damaged at least two schools and dozens of homes in Alabama and Mississippi a day earlier.