Shoppers in state's NW dash through bit of snow

The Walker Park Historical Mural is reflected in the rain puddles on the tennis courts at Walker Park in Fayetteville on Wednesday. The rain is expected to clear out by Christmas morning with highs in the 50s for Northwest Arkansas.
The Walker Park Historical Mural is reflected in the rain puddles on the tennis courts at Walker Park in Fayetteville on Wednesday. The rain is expected to clear out by Christmas morning with highs in the 50s for Northwest Arkansas.

Light snow and sleet fell in Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday, raising short-lived hopes for a white Christmas today.

Instead, the flurries moved out by noon, and forecasters said temperatures are to climb into the 50s for most of the state by this afternoon.

"I was kind of disappointed it didn't stay around," Amber Parker, an employee of the Springdale Price Chopper on South Thompson Avenue, said of the brief snowfall. "It's pretty, and it's magical. A white Christmas doesn't happen much."

National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sellers of Tulsa said the occasional snow fell primarily in Rogers and Springdale early Wednesday morning.

"It was isolated," he said. "The snow fell mainly in the higher elevations. It was 'spitting' snow and mixing in with drizzle."

Arkansas' light snow came on the tail end of a large, upper-level low system over the Great Lakes that was forecast to dump 5-6 inches of snow in northern Michigan and spread snow, freezing rain and high winds into the Ohio Valley and northeastern U.S. today.

"We had reports of little flakes," National Weather Service meteorologist Marty Trexler of North Little Rock said Wednesday. "There was nothing substantial, and nothing stuck. The temperatures in Northwest were in the 30s, and the ground temperatures were still in the 40s."

Trexler said other areas along the Missouri border could get snow flurries as the system passes through the state, but people should expect few flakes, if any.

"People should see the thick stratus clouds come over, and that's where any precipitation is," he said. "It may try to snow, but it should be out of northeast Arkansas early [this] morning."

The snow didn't scare away last-minute shoppers in Springdale. Parker said sales were brisk at the Price Chopper as customers bought supplies for Christmas dinner.

"They were doing their pre-Christmas food buying," she said. "I've not seen outside since early this morning. I'm sure it's stopped because there's no run on bread and milk."

Paul Johnson, a dispatcher for the Rogers Police Department, said there were no accidents in the Benton County city as a result of the light snowfall.

"It's basically fine flakes," he said. "You really had to squint to see it."

Temperatures are to climb into the lower 50s there today, and skies are forecast to clear as winds shift to the west.

Another round of rain is expected to enter the state Friday night and Saturday. Forecasters are calling for a slight chance of freezing rain Saturday night and Sunday morning for Northwest Arkansas.

State Desk on 12/25/2014

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