Icy weather slams state

A University of Arkansas facilities truck spreads sand and gravel mixture on the roads on campus Wednesday, March 4, 2015.
A University of Arkansas facilities truck spreads sand and gravel mixture on the roads on campus Wednesday, March 4, 2015.

7 p.m. update:

Driving conditions in the central Arkansas continue to worsen as wintry precipitation accumulates on the roads, causing slow and stopped traffic on all interstates in Little Rock.

There have been several accidents and car slide-offs reported across the state, Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said.

As early as 11 a.m., authorities saw the "typical spike" in weather-related accidents in Northwest Arkansas as winter precipitation started there, and again around 4:30 p.m. in central Arkansas, Sadler said.

One serious injury was reported in Northwest Arkansas, Sadler said.

Traffic started moving slowly through the metro area as people left the area when the freezing rain and sleet started and continues to move slowly, according to Sadler.

At about 7 p.m., 1,351 Entergy power failures were reported, according to the company’s online outage map. The majority of the power failures were in Crittenden County, where 675 customers were without power.

Snow is reported in the north and northeast portions of the state, freezing rain and sleet in central Arkansas and rain in the south, according to the National Weather Service.

Precipitation in Central and southern Arkansas will transition to snow overnight, officials with the National Weather Service say.

Several school districts, including Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special, have canceled classes for Thursday as conditions are expected to worsen overnight.

Earlier:

Winter storm warnings are in effect for most of Arkansas overnight Wednesday into Thursday as a strong arctic front pushes toward the state, turning precipitation from rain into freezing rain, snow and sleet, forecasters said.

About 12:15 p.m., forecasters said a cold front will "slowly sag" south across the state on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service in Little Rock.

The front will cause temperatures to plunge, and rain will turn into freezing rain and sleet and snow, National Weather Service Science and Operations Officer Chris Buonanno said in a statement. The transition to icier precipitation will start across north Arkansas on Wednesday morning, then move to central Arkansas in mid- to late afternoon, and then hit the state’s south overnight, he said.

“Substantial” accumulations are expected, Buonanno said, adding that icy roads are expected and that gusty winds developing this afternoon may “worsen power outage concerns with any ice accumulation on utility lines.”

Temperatures on Thursday and Friday are forecast to be “well below normal,” he said, prolonging whatever dangerous road conditions develop.

Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport spokesman Shane Carter said in an email that staff are prepared to begin clearing runways when the winter weather hits the metro area.

The airport staff will work around the clock to pretreat surfaces and remove any ice and snow, the email states.

There have already been several delays and cancellations of flights for Wednesday afternoon and evening, Carter said.

Carter advised flyers to check the airport's website or the air carrier's site for flight information before traveling to the airport.

For the central third of Arkansas, a winter storm warning will be in effect from noon Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday, with snow and sleet accumulations ranging from 2 to 4 inches and between 1/10 inch and 1/4 inch freezing rain likely to occur Wednesday afternoon and evening, the weather service said.

North-central Arkansas — including Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Johnson, Marion, Newton, Pope, Searcy, Sharp, Stone and Van Buren counties — is under a winter storm warning until 6 a.m. Thursday. Between 3 and 6 inches of snow and sleet is predicted, mainly falling Wednesday afternoon and evening, with the greatest totals northeast toward Batesville, Newport and Hardy, the weather service said. Some light freezing rain accumulation is also possible there, forecasters said.

In Carroll, Madison and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas, between 1 inches and 3 inches of snow and sleet, plus 1/4 inch or less of ice accumulation, is expected between Wednesday morning and midnight, the weather service said.

Road and emergency officials are urging people to stay off roads as a winter weather system dumps sleet and snow across Northwest Arkansas.

Major roads were partly or completely covered in sleet or slush from Bella Vista to Fayetteville, but the worst conditions appear to be near the Missouri border.

In south Arkansas — including Arkadelphia, De Witt, Fordyce, Malvern, Murfreesboro, Pine Bluff, Sheridan, Star City and Stuttgart — a winter storm warning will be in effect from 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday, with 1 inch to 2 inches of snow and sleet, plus 1/10 inch to 1/4 inch of freezing rain likely. Farther south in Bradley, Calhoun, Desha, Drew and Ouachita counties, a little less snow and sleet is predicted.

Forecasters: Ice, snow head to Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma

Forecasters say winter precipitation will become common late this morning in a band from east central Oklahoma through northern Arkansas to southern Missouri.

A statement from the Storm Prediction Center on Wednesday warned of sleet, ice and snow accumulations. It said the freezing line at the surface largely paralleled Interstate 44 as of 6 a.m. Wednesday and was moving southeastward at 15-25 mph.

Forecasters issued a winter storm warning for all but one of Arkansas' 75 counties. Benton County is under a winter weather advisory.

The National Weather Service predicted 4-6 inches of snow from Jasper to Blytheville, 2-4 inches in a band from Fayetteville to Little Rock to West Memphis and 1-2 inches from Mena and Texarkana eastward to the Mississippi River.

Freezing rain is expected statewide, too.

— The Associated Press

photo

National Weather Service

This National Weather Service graphic Wednesday, March 4, 2015, shows expected wintry precipitation accumulations for Wednesday into Thursday.

photo

A University of Arkansas facilities truck spreads sand and gravel mixture on the roads on campus Wednesday, March 4, 2015.

Upcoming Events