UPDATE: Beebe declares weather emergency for Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK — Snow and freezing rain moved out of Northwest Arkansas on Tuesday and an Arctic air mass moved in, sending temperatures toward the single digits under whipping winds.

Many schools and businesses closed as the storm approached and then dumped up to 8 inches of snow in places. Schools in Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale announced they would also be closed Wednesday, as did the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, as the region waits for a thaw that isn’t expected until the weekend. The full list of closings is available here.

“It does not look good for travel in western or northwestern Arkansas for the next several days,” Highway and Transportation Department spokesman Glenn Bolick said. “There is only so much we can do.”

Gov. Mike Beebe has declared a state of emergency earlier in the day.

The emergency declaration comes with $25,000 from the governor’s disaster aid fund for storm response.

Beebe called on Arkansas National Guard troops to haul cots and blankets to the northwest part of the state in anticipation of power outages and people needing warmth.

Scattered power outages were reported in the region as of Tuesday afternoon. The National Weather Service said several hundred homes were without power.

The National Weather Service said a winter storm warning remains in effect until midnight for most of Northwest Arkansas, and a winter weather advisory remains in effect until then for western and north-central Arkansas.

Thousands of flights were canceled including hundreds at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which reopened Tuesday morning after icy runways forced the major air hub to close for about an hour.

State police dispatchers in Springdale and Fort Smith said there were few accidents and not even many cars that slid into ditches as people heeded warnings to stay put.

At Epting Funeral Home in Bentonville, funeral director Ricky Epting said he had a few cremations scheduled that would go forward Tuesday and that the business would be able to handle any new calls.

“A funeral home has got to keep going,” Epting said.

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill had many flights canceled as airports in the path of the tremendous storm system across the Plains were socked in by ice and snow.

At Harrison, three-quarters of an inch of freezing rain accumulated on trees and vehicles, and roads were icing over, according to the National Weather Service.

Travel was difficult, and highways from De Queen in the southwest to Mountain Home in the north-central region were caked with ice and snow. With the layer of ice underneath the snow, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department advised against travel in affected areas. State police said people seemed to heed those warnings and few accidents were reported.

The high winds can help dry out the roads, but Bolick said that in some areas, the gusts were strong enough to blow snow and slush back onto roads that had already been cleared. Bolick also advised against westward travel even if Arkansas highways are cleared, because conditions were worse in western Oklahoma, where the snow was much heavier.

In Arkansas, the greatest snowfall total reported to the weather agency was 8 inches north of Pea Ridge in Benton County. At Gravette and Bella Vista, 7 inches were reported. Most other communities in northwest Arkansas reported totals from 2-4 inches.

In Fayetteville the forecast for Tuesday night was a low of 5 degrees and winds between 15 mph and 25 mph, with similar conditions forecast across the northern part of the state.

The storm also went through southern Arkansas, where thunderstorms rumbled across the region, followed by light precipitation and the threat of icy roads as the temperature plunged.

Many flights at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill were canceled, in part because other airports — from Dallas-Ft. Worth to Chicago — were affected by the tremendous storm.

The winter storm was the third in the last four weeks in Arkansas, and each led to concern about people in need.

Jon Woodward, executive director of Seven Hills Homeless Center in Fayetteville, said most of his staff made it in to work to help people on the street.

Some homeless people shun shelters, even in extreme weather. As with the Union Rescue Mission in Little Rock and similar organizations around the state, Seven Hills goes to where the homeless gather.

“Early this morning, when it was really dense snow, piles of that will tear down tents pretty quickly,” Woodward said. “If they are in a tent at this point, then they (should) make sure they knock off the snow. Otherwise, when they go back there tonight they’ll go back there and it will be ripped up pretty good.”

Woodward said the center was providing hand and foot warmers to help combat the freezing temperatures. He also said the center’s workers were checking to make sure none of its regulars were missing or suffering due to the cold.

“One of the really cool things about the homeless community is they really do look out for each other,” Woodward said. “If there’s someone not doing well or needs some support of they haven’t seen around, they’ll alert us to that.”

The center tends to about 110 people per day, Woodward said.

Adjacent to the University of Arkansas, the usually busy Dickson Street was all but deserted Tuesday morning. An enclave of bars, restaurants and shops, the street was passable after it was plowed and treated by city crews, but few people had ventured out, said Don Choffel, a co-owner of Dickson Street Bookshop.

Choffel walked three-quarters of a mile to work with the hope of opening for a few hours, but changed his mind when he saw no one around.

“The street was so dead we decided not to,” Choffel said. “I don’t see anything open.”

Choffel said even cars with two-wheel drive were able to negotiate streets where crews plowed and spread ice melt. But most folks decided to stay home and Choffel decided to take a snow day too.

“I’m going to go home and read,” he said.

At Epting Funeral Home in Bentonville, funeral director Ricky Epting said he had a few cremations scheduled that would go forward Tuesday and that the business would be able to handle any new calls.

“A funeral home has got to keep going,” Epting said.

Temperatures were forecast to plunge below zero in north Arkansas overnight Tuesday, after the state enjoyed highs in the 70s last weekend.

The cold is forecast to stick around through the rest of the work week, leaving open the possibility that schools in the northwest also may be closed on Wednesday.

The winter storm is the third to strike Arkansas since the first of the year.

Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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Information for this article was contributed by Arkansas Online staff.