Schools close as next winter storm moves in

Snow covers the ground on Wednesday at Knoop Park in Little Rock. Schools and offices closed Wednesday after a winter storm made its way into the state.
Snow covers the ground on Wednesday at Knoop Park in Little Rock. Schools and offices closed Wednesday after a winter storm made its way into the state.

Dozens of school districts called off class before the state's next winter storm arrived, canceling ahead of a system that's expected to drop as much as half a foot of snow on parts of Arkansas.

The Little Rock School District, the state's largest, joined with North Little Rock, Pulaski County, Benton, Bryant and numerous others in deciding to keep students home because of the threat of likely wintry precipitation and hazardous conditions.

Snow began to fall in central Arkansas, including Little Rock, about 10 a.m. It started even earlier in points further south. Snow, slush, sleet and ice were reported on highways roughly south and southwest of Hot Springs shortly before 10:30 a.m.

By 11 a.m., road conditions in southern Arkansas continued to deteriorate, with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department reporting several portions of Interstate 30 below Saline County and Interstate 50 up to Pulaski County covered in snow.

Danny Straessle, state Highway and Transportation Department spokesman, said crews worked overnight in southern Arkansas to pretreat the roads.

"We're already seeing that [pretreatment] pay off even though precipitation is falling in some areas, its not really sticking as much as one would think," Straessle said. "That coupled with the rock salt crews are dispensing works in tandem to keep material from bonding with the pavement."

The department's goal today is to push snow off roadways "as quickly as possible," Straessle said.

High traffic volumes can compact the snow, which would freeze overnight and create an ice pack the next morning, Straessle said.

Now a quick response force is working in southwest Arkansas to keep I-30 running smoothly, along with other major routes in that area, Straessle said.

The latest round of wintry weather comes after one Monday that turned roads slick over a large swath of the state. Above-freezing temperatures and sunshine Tuesday helped melt the remnants of that system Tuesday, and roads across the state were largely clear Wednesday morning.

But school districts, and some other entities, didn't hesitate in opting to close.

The Little Rock School District said shortly after 5 a.m. that schools would be shut while offices would remain open. The Pulaski County Special School District canceled then, too, for the "possibility of incoming snow," though its district office was to remain open at 12-month employees were to report.

The North Little Rock School District canceled class and directed 12-month employees to follow the district inclement weather policy.

The city of Little Rock delayed opening for non-essential employees to noon and said officials would track the weather to see "if additional delays are needed." Crews, meanwhile, were pretreating treating bridges, overpasses and other "problem spots" throughout the city, officials said.

State offices will close at noon on Wednesday for non-essential personnel, Gov. Asa Hutchinson's spokesman J.R. Davis said in an email.

Little Rock Traffic Court Judge Vic Fleming said those with tickets due on Wednesday can come into Little Rock Traffic Court at 1 p.m. on Monday or Tuesday to pay tickets without penalty after winter weather closed the city of Little Rock offices early.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock opened Wednesday for classes but spokesman Kelli Jacobi said in an email that the campus will close at 11 a.m.

Garland County closed county offices because of "uncertainty" in the weather.

A full list of closings is available here.

Forecasters said Little Rock may see 2 to 4 inches of snow later Wednesday. A heavier band was expected to drop as much as 6 inches on some points farther south, roughly from Arkadelphia to Pine Bluff.

Forecasters warned the precipitation may start as sleet in places before transitioning to snow. The National Weather Service said some areas may see an inch stick to the ground "in a short period of time."

"Travel will likely be greatly impacted as snowfall will fall quickly across the region," it said in a statement.

Counties in the southern half of the state, and a few north and northeast of Pulaski, were under a winter weather advisory or a winter storm warning.

Dave Scheibe, observation program leader for the weather service in North Little Rock, said shortly before 6 a.m. that precipitation had already started falling in parts of southern Arkansas and would be moving in Little Rock and central Arkansas "fairly soon."

The warning and advisory are scheduled to stay in effect until 6 p.m.

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National Weather Service

This National Weather Service graphic shows expected snow totals Wednesday in Arkansas.

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Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department

A screenshot of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's online map shows some roadways in Arkansas covered in snow as of 11 a.m.

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