Winter weather advisory extends south as storm draws nearer

One to three inches of snow is expected across the central third of Arkansas into the southeast counties. South of the snow, freezing rain is expected toward the Louisiana border. Spotty tenth to quarter inch ice accruals are not out of the question. Precipitation should wind down early on the 11th.
One to three inches of snow is expected across the central third of Arkansas into the southeast counties. South of the snow, freezing rain is expected toward the Louisiana border. Spotty tenth to quarter inch ice accruals are not out of the question. Precipitation should wind down early on the 11th.

While a winter weather advisory issued for Monday evening has been expanded to include most of central and southern Arkansas, forecasters say less snowfall is expected to occur than what was initially predicted.

The National Weather Service set the advisory to go into effect at 6 p.m. for a large swath of west, central and south Arkansas, including the Little Rock area.

Forecasters say accumulations will range from about 1 to 2 inches of snow for most of the advisory area, though a narrow band of heavier snowfall may bring higher amounts in some areas.

Just where the heaviest totals will fall remains unclear, officials said, though it appears it will be somewhere along the Interstate 40 and Arkansas River corridors.

"Snow will build into areas father southeast Monday night into Tuesday morning," the weather service said in a statement. "North and south of this band, it appears snow will cut off quickly. Where this band sets up is critical and could mean the difference between heavy snow and not much snow at all."

Some southern counties may also receive around a tenth of an inch of ice in addition to the snow.

John Robinson, warning coordination meteorologist with the weather service in North Little Rock, called the system "probably the most ill-behaved one that we have had so far this winter," making it difficult to predict just where the greatest accumulations will fall.

"The way this weather system has been behaving, I have a strong feeling that there are going to be more changes to the forecast before the weather finally moves out of Arkansas," he said in an email.

Most schools across the state held classes as scheduled Monday, though some indicated they were keeping a close eye on the evolving forecast. The Little Rock School District said on its website it was tracking the weather developments and would post any closing information there and on its social media channels.

PREPARATION EFFORTS

Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore said he held a pre-storm briefing Monday and determined the city is prepared for the forecast wintry weather.

Moore met with representatives from the Public Works, Fleet Services, Parks and Recreation, police and fire departments, Homeless Outreach, Housing and Neighborhood Programs; the city's Emergency Management division; Entergy Arkansas; the Little Rock School District; the Metropolitan Housing Alliance, MEMS and Red Cross Arkansas, the city said in a statement.

Public Works Department crews continue to operate 24 hours a day, in 12-hour shifts, with about 90 workers scheduled on day shifts and 38 on night shifts, the city said, and will continue until roads are clear. Enough sand and salt is in stock to ease driving conditions for this expected bout of snow, and more is being delivered this week, the city said. Little Rock said it is operating 10 large spreader trucks, two small ones and two road graders.

The city said its Jericho Way Day Resource Center, 3000 Confederate Blvd., will continue to operate as normal, and van drivers will continue to run routes through Little Rock to pick up those who need rides to shelters such as the Compassion Center, the Salvation Army, Union Rescue Mission and the Dream Center, which will be open at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday.

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