Cold air returned to Arkansas this week, and with it came three chances for wintry precipitation, including one round early today, meteorologists at the National Weather Service said Tuesday.
Forecasters called for rain Tuesday night with a chance of the rainfall turning to snow early today in central and northern Arkansas. There’s little accumulation expected, however, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Lewis of North Little Rock.
“By the time it gets cold enough, most of the moisture will have moved on,” he said. “If there’s anything, it’ll be light.”
There is also a chance for “thunder snow,” a phenomenon that occurs when air temperatures at the ground level are warmer than air above but it’s still cold enough to snow. It’s a rare occurrence that usually happens only once every several years, meteorologists said, although it happened through much of the state in December 2012.
A second slight chance of snow and ice is forecast for Friday morning. Central Arkansas could get sleet and freezing rain, turning to rain by midmorning, Lewis said. Farther north, snow is forecast for Friday morning, followed by light freezing rain.
Lewis said he doubts there will be much accumulation in the state because, like today’s forecast, the moisture is predicted to leave before the temperature drops.
However, Sunday’s forecast calls for at least a 50 percent chance of snow in the northern tier of the state. Central and southern Arkansas should get rainfall as temperatures will drop only to the 40s, Lewis said.
That forecast can still change, Lewis added.
“Sunday’s forecast is the most interesting,” he said. “The data we have coming in is inconsistent. We could have anything from rain to wintry precipitation in the state. It depends on how the temperatures set up.”
The state already has gotten 14 days of snow, freezing rain and sleet since November.
“This year we’ve been pretty busy,” said Jeff Wheeler, an Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department district maintenance engineer in Harrison. “We’re kind of expecting it … .”
He said crews will pretreat roads in his district, which includes Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Marion, Newton and Searcy counties, if snow is forecast.
“If it’s freezing rain, it’ll be a bit more difficult,” Wheeler said. “We’re keeping an eye on the forecast. We’ll have our crews ready.”
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 02/26/2014