Snow, ice in state blamed for numerous accidents

NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE - A cyclist makes his way up West Dickson Street as snow falls Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, in Fayetteville.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/ANDY SHUPE - A cyclist makes his way up West Dickson Street as snow falls Saturday, Feb. 28, 2015, in Fayetteville.

While most of Arkansas was chilly but free of freezing rain and snow Saturday, north-central and Northwest Arkansas -- especially Washington County -- were hit once more by wintry weather.

Some Washington County roads were passable Saturday as road crews cleared the snowfall, but officials warned that more snow could worsen road conditions.

"It's just slick," said Sgt. Chris Moad of the Fayetteville Police Department.

The Arkansas State Police worked about seven vehicle accidents that were caused by snowy conditions Saturday, said Dale Forbes, chief of radio operations for the state police in Springdale. None of the accidents were serious, he said, but he encouraged people to stay home and off roadways.

"All roads are slick and hazardous, and we are getting more snow," Forbes said.

About 1½ inches of snow fell in Fayetteville from Friday afternoon to Saturday morning, said National Weather Service meteorologist Amy Jankowski of Tulsa.

More wintry weather was expected through early this morning in west-central and Northwest Arkansas, said meteorologist Joe Sellers, also with the National Weather Service in Tulsa. The area generally included Washington, Madison, Crawford, Sebastian and Franklin counties.

Parts of that area were under a winter weather advisory until 6 a.m. today.

"It's mainly going to be in the form of freezing precipitation, which falls as liquid and instantly freezes when it reaches the ground, and that's going to compound already difficult travel conditions," Sellers said. "Overnight, there won't be a whole lot of additional accumulation, but there's still a chance for some freezing precipitation. We're gradually going to warm and see a transition over to rain."

North-central Arkansas also was under a winter weather advisory until 6 a.m. today, with additional snowfall of about 1 inch expected in some areas and up to 2 inches in higher elevations and near the Missouri state line, said National Weather Service observations program leader Dave Scheibe of North Little Rock.

Ice accumulations of a few hundredths of an inch were possible in that area but would be limited to early this morning, Scheibe said.

"We're looking at temperatures actually going up into the 40s in some areas [today]," he said.

On Friday and Saturday, the weather in Northwest Arkansas was blamed for several accidents that John Luther, director of the Washington County Department of Emergency Management, called "preventable."

Police in Fayetteville reported about 15 accidents from 7 p.m. Friday to 1 p.m. Saturday, which was fewer than the 24 accidents that police worked after Monday's winter storm, Moad said.

The Washington County sheriff's office worked six weather-related accidents Friday night and Saturday morning, spokesman Kelly Cantrell said.

One person was taken to a hospital after a crash near Winslow in which one vehicle slid on snow and struck another vehicle head-on about 5 p.m. Friday, said Dewey Drummond, chief of the Boston Mountain Fire Department.

Benton County saw numerous accidents Friday but few Saturday, officials said.

The Rogers Police Department worked 33 weather-related accidents between 2 and 10 p.m. Friday, according to Keith Foster, public information officer. Only two of the crashes resulted in injuries, which were minor, he said. No accidents had been reported Saturday by 2 p.m., he said.

The Bentonville Police Department worked 30 accidents from 2 to 10 p.m. Friday, according to the department's dispatch office. It reported no accidents as of 2 p.m. Saturday.

In Benton County, officers responded to about 15 traffic accidents Friday and about the same number as of 2 p.m. Saturday, sheriff's office spokesman Keshia Guyll said.

The accidents happened throughout the county, and none were serious, she said.

"Been keeping us pretty busy," she said in a text message.

The Rogers Fire Department responded to two weather-related traffic accidents Friday, Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said.

A car pulling a trailer struck one of the department's ambulances on Arkansas 12 east of the Beaver Lake bridge crossing, Jenkins said. There were no injuries, but damage to the ambulance was significant, he said. Another ambulance was dispatched to answer the first ambulance's call.

The snow was also slowing emergency response times in rural areas. The EMTs who responded to the accident in Winslow had to park their ambulances at the bottom of a hill and ride up with firefighters, who had chains on their trucks, Drummond said.

"It slows us down, but we can get there," he said.

Luther said people should stay home. If they must go out, he said, drivers should leave early, avoid steep hills, drive slowly and leave plenty of space between vehicles.

"The car is not going to stop like it would in dry conditions," he said. "Use some caution. It's frustrating for us to be responding to preventable accidents."

Metro on 03/01/2015

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