Roadways remain slick, many schools stay closed
This article was originally published February 9, 2010 at 5:58 a.m. Updated February 9, 2010 at 8:40 a.m.
PHOTO BY KAREN E. SEGRAVE
Tim Carter (on tractor) waits as John Carabajal unhooks a chain from a SUV while helping people get themselves unstuck from a parking lot along Highway 107 in Sherwood on Monday.
LITTLE ROCK — No additional wintry precipitation is forecast this morning, but officials are stressing that travel may be hazardous on roadways still covered in snow, slush and ice.
Dangerous conditions remain after a storm that dropped snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain across the state. Dozens of schools remain closed today.
An online Arkansas Highway and Transportation map shows a combination of ice, snow and slush affecting numerous major highways in the central and northern regions of the state.
The National Weather Service is warning motorists that sub-freezing temperatures overnight and today likely turned any standing water left from Monday's storm into a layer of ice.
"Motorists are urged to use caution if traveling across northern and central Arkansas," officials wrote in a statement issued this morning.
Arkansas State Police in Little Rock reported numerous slideoffs and collisions throughout the area. Dispatchers in Little Rock and Pulaski County said no problems have yet been reported.
Randy Ort, a spokesman for the highway department, said primary highways are in generally good shape, though bridges and overpasses are likely to have icy spots. The elevated portion of Interstate 440 between Interstate 30 and the airport has been the scene of several 18-wheeler slideoffs, he said.
Conditions are worse on secondary roads and Ort said officials are still urging people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
Dropping temperatures may freeze more snow and slush as the day progresses, though Ort said sunny skies are helping to keep some areas from turning slick. Winds, too, are helping to dry the pavement.
"Even though the temperatures are falling, we've got some other things working in our favor," he said.
Entergy, meanwhile, reported more than 2,600 customers without power as of about 8:40 a.m. Most of the power failures were in Garland and Pulaski counties.
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