Break short-lived; snow forecast

As much as 6 inches seen as possible in 50-mile-wide band

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --2/9/2014--
Pate Capps, right, slides off his sled while racing his brother Harden down a hill at the Clinton Presidential Park in Little Rock. The boys dad Barry Capps, top right, and uncle Judd Walker, top left, took them sledding on Sunday to enjoy the remains of Friday's snow fall despite the fact most of it had melted away.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN --2/9/2014-- Pate Capps, right, slides off his sled while racing his brother Harden down a hill at the Clinton Presidential Park in Little Rock. The boys dad Barry Capps, top right, and uncle Judd Walker, top left, took them sledding on Sunday to enjoy the remains of Friday's snow fall despite the fact most of it had melted away.

Another round of winter weather will strike the state today, forecasters said, and it could be the last for the week.

The weather systems - a cold front sweeping in from the northwest coupled with upper-level low pressure from the west - will deliver the fourth round of winter weather to the state just this month. The frozen precipitation will be the 14th system to hit some parts of the state since November.

Meteorologists said the precipitation likely will begin late this evening and continue until daybreak Tuesday.

Northern counties in the state are expected to see a dusting of snow, and parts of central Arkansas could receive between 2 and 4 inches of snow, said Sean Clarke, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock. The southern part of the state, he said, likely will get rain and freezing rain but also could see snow.

Forecasters late Sunday were watching a “thin band” that will carry heavier snow but hadn’t determined where exactly the approximately 50-mile-wide band will land. Areas within the band could see as much as 6 inches of snow, forecasters said.

Depending on that, “there will be a fine line between the heavier snow and very little accumulations,” said Chris Buonanno, science and operations officer for the weather service in North Little Rock.

The latest round of winter weather prompted utility companies and the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to mobilize crews in early preparation attempts.

Highway Department crews who have worked continuously since 6 p.m. Friday were resting Sunday after clearing the leftover winter precipitation, Highway Department spokesman Danny Straessle said. Maintenance workers on Sunday then went to work restoring and replacing the necessary parts for any vehicles.

Crews reported back to duty at 6 p.m. Sunday, after different weather models suggested different arrival times for the systems, he said.

“We will be pretreating because some of the models suggest that rain will change to the frozen stuff pretty quickly in the morning,” he said, adding that the department will again start 24-hour operations. “We feel it’s better for us to get a jump on it.”

Pretreatment, Straessle said, is more for freezing rain, sleet or ice events as that precipitation sticks, and the treatment acts as a preventive barrier, allowing crews to remove the ice more easily. Crews can simply push snow out onto a highway shoulder or the grass, but they can only start plowing after an inch of snow falls, he said.

Entergy Arkansas spokesman Sally Graham said the utility company has shifted the linemen who had been working in the northeast to central and southern areas.

“The major issue for us is we expect and are preparing for ice into [today] and into Tuesday and some wind gusts up to 25 mph on Tuesday,” Graham said. “And of course, the below-freezing temperatures.”

The utility company has retained some of the additional resources its had since last week, though some linemen with sister companies returned to their homes in Louisiana and Mississippi to prepare for the winter weather themselves, she said.

Many of the Highway Department and utility crews had been working around-the-clock after the three winter weather systems last week.

The latest event on Friday dropped up to 4 inches of snow, the most in Logan, Yell, Lincoln and Jefferson counties. The Little Rock area saw about 2.5 inches.

All residents and businesses who were without power from earlier storms had their electricity restored Saturday night, Graham said. The energy company had a peak of more than 48,000 customers without power Tuesday.

Straessle said Highway Department crews spent much of Friday and Saturday plowing the highways, but heavy traffic, paired with abandoned vehicles, made the task more difficult.

“What made Friday’s event different is that it was snow,” he said. “That’s huge. Whenever people hear in the forecast there will be sleet, freezing rain and the like, they tend to stay in. Folks feel that they can drive a little bit easier on the snow than the ice.”

Interstate 30 in Clark County was the biggest challenge, as motorists slipped off the highway. The “long-rise hills” also prompted a traffic shutdown for several hours, he said.

Interstate 40 between North Little Rock and West Memphis also was difficult for crews, as the highway has at least three construction zones with no extra width.

“You get snow packed up against the wall, and it reduces the lane width quite a bit,” Straessle said.

He added that crews spotted several abandoned vehicles along I-30 and Interstates 630 and 430.

Locally, authorities responded to more than 200 accidents in Pulaski County alone.

Authorities announced Saturday that some abandoned vehicles that police consider traffic hazards would be towed to clear the roads for plows.Some of those were taken to Little Rock Vehicle Storage Facility at 7801 Jamison Road, which was open for five hours Sunday. The storage facility also will be open for regular hours this week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Storage manager Victor Baker said the facility only received some 35 vehicles between Friday evening and Sunday, but officials there were still sorting out how many tows were a direct result of the snow. To retrieve a vehicle, motorists need a valid state driver’s license, vehicle registration and proof of insurance.

“Most of the cars probably go to the wrecker companies, or the wrecker companies tow them to the homes or pull them out of the spot they were in,” he said.

Late Sunday, Arkansas State Police didn’t list any fatal accidents that occurred during the snow event.

The search continued Sunday for a woman who jumped off I-30 into the Red River early Saturday in attempt to avoid being hit by a tractor-trailer.

About 2 a.m., a tractor-trailer jackknifed and slid toward a collision involving several vehicles near Red Lake Road in Miller County, said Keith Stephens, spokesman for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Two women and a man were standing outside their vehicles at the time.

One of the women laid down, surviving, and the man jumped off the bridge onto dry land below. The other woman jumped off the bridge into the water. Her identity hasn’t been released, and she had not been found by Sunday evening.

The winter weather again slowed a separate search for missing Arkansas Forestry Commission pilot Jake Harrell, who was last heard from on Jan. 31.

Poor visibility halted aerial searches Sunday, but 76 searchers on the ground had gone to locations where residents and satellite images reported a possible sighting, commission spokesman Adriane Barnes said in a news release Sunday.

After today’s expected winter weather, forecasters said it will be cold Tuesday, with high temperatures in the upper 20s and lower 30s. There won’t be too much melting Tuesday, Buonanno said.

But, he said, the state will likely start a warming trend as temperatures reach the mid-30s to lower 40s Wednesday and climb another 10 degrees Thursday, he said.

“For the rest of the week, we’ll be dry,” he said, adding that Arkansans will see at or above-normal temperatures this weekend for the first time since Feb. 1.

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/10/2014

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