Arkansans aren’t likely to see a white Christmas as they did last year when up to 15 inches of snow fell in some parts of the state.
This year’s weather pattern has returned to one morenormal for early winter. Temperatures Wednesday are expected to reach 50 degrees in central Arkansas.
And after this weekend’s rain and storms, the forecast is for clear, sunny skies.
“To have wintry precipitation, you have to have acold air mass in place and at the same time have moisture coming into play,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Julie Lesko of North Little Rock. “You have to have an upper-level system. We won’t have that [on Christmas Day] this year.”
A white Christmas is rare in the Natural State.
Since 1875, when the weather service began keeping records, it has snowed only nine times on the holiday, and the snowfall was measurable in only four of those instances. On threeother occasions, snow had fallen before Christmas Day and was still on the ground for the holiday, weather service records indicate.
Before last year, the previous big Christmas Day snowfall was in 1926. Sleet beganfalling early in the morning that day, according to the weather service’s account. It changed to snow later, and 2-4 inches of the wintry mix accumulated on the ground by the evening. The snow stuck around for three days, the weather service said.
A year ago, snow and ice hammered much of the state. Jessieville in Garland County received 15 inches. Paragould saw 10.5 inches. The blowing storm even prompted the National Weather Service in Memphis - for the first time in memory - to issue a blizzard warning for 14 counties in northeast Arkansas.
The state has had some light snowfalls on Christmas Day through the years. They were recorded in 2009, 1975, 1939, 1935, 1918, 1914 and 1887.
While some may like the snow’s ambiance on a crisp Christmas Day, many say they prefer the opposite.
“We’re not Scrooges at the Highway Department,” said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. “The child in many of us enjoys a good snowfall on Christmas, but the Highway Department in us doesn’t like a snow.”
Christmas Day is not the most traveled day of the year, Ort said. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year on the state’s highways, but people do hit the roads for Christmas.
Four years ago on Christmas Eve, 8 inches of rain closed Interstate 30 between Little Rock and Benton for more than 10 hours.
“We got a lot of calls about that,” Ort said. “There was not much Christmas spirit that night.”
For some folks, Christmas traditions outweigh Christmas weather.
Paul Warford, owner of Papa Santa’s Christmas Tree Farm in Benton, said inclement weather doesn’t hinder his tree sales. Of course, he sells most of his trees before Christmas Day, he said. But if it were to snow on Christmas Eve, he believes people still would show up to buy their trees.
“It’s tradition, and you don’t change that,” Warford said. “Some come out the Saturday after Thanksgiving to get their trees. Others wait until Christmas Eve. They do it the same every year, and weather won’t change that. If it’s snowing, they bundle up the kids, load them in the van and get the tree.”
In snowy years, he said, “I tell them to be sure to shake the ice off them and let them stand in the garage before putting it in their house, or they’ll have a melted puddle in the room.”
As for winter-related toys, sales are down this year, said Jonesboro Kmart toy department employee Charles Beshears.
“We had a few people come in asking about sleds a couple of weeks ago, when the ice came,” he said, referring to the Dec. 5 storm that left about 2 inches of snow and ice in Jonesboro.
“But since then, we’ve not sold anything like that,” Beshears said. “Furbies, Legos, Disney toys … people are buying those a lot.”
The weather service called for some light snow for a bit today in Northwest Arkansas. However, anything that falls is not expected to stick around for Christmas, because temperatures are forecast to reach the upper 40s and lower 50s by Wednesday, Lesko said.
“Most of the time, winter weather is a hindrance - unless you’re selling snowblower equipment,” Lesko said. “After going through last year’s snow, I think people will be happy without any for a while.”
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 12/22/2013