Slick streets prompted schools around Arkansas to close their doors for a third day in a row, but conditions were improving as the day progressed.
The Little Rock School District, which had initially planned to operate on a two-hour delay, joined the North Little Rock and the Pulaski County Special school districts and dozens of others around the state in canceling class again Wednesday.
The districts made the decisions after a storm moved through parts of the state, dropping light snow in some places. Conditions were already slick because of a wintry mix that fell Monday and then refroze overnight.
Little Rock officials made a decision shortly before 7 a.m. to shut their doors.
"Due to conditions, we've reconsidered and are closing," spokesman Pam Smith said. "We have a lot of teachers and staff who live outside the city who were having a tough time getting in, and of course we want to make sure kiddos can get on the bus safely."
The Benton and Bryant school districts in Saline County were among other districts who closed for the day. The full list is available here.
The National Weather Service cautioned that many areas would be slick Wednesday because of ice that melted Tuesday and then refroze overnight.
The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department reported clearer conditions than a day earlier, but still indicated late Wednesday morning that some ice or ice patches on a number of highways in central, northeast, south-central and Northwest Arkansas. But most of the state's major roads were said to be clear or mostly clear of any icy spots.
Several roadways in Little Rock were clogged earlier Wednesday morning as vehicles attempted to travel through slick areas, but traffic was moving more smoothly later in the day. The Arkansas Online live traffic map shortly before 11 a.m. showed stopped traffic on Interstate 530 south of Little Rock, but no other problems in the metro area.
Part of Chenal Parkway near Chenal Valley Drive was shut for a time while crews treated an icy hill, but it reopened before 10 a.m. Other slick parts of Chenal Parkway, where vehicles had been moving slowly early in the morning, were clear before 11 a.m.
Temperatures in some places, including Little Rock, had already surpassed the freezing mark, and much of the state was reporting sunny or mostly sunny skies, helping to melt the slick roadways.
