Forecasters say thawing should continue today and into the weekend, finally clearing Northwest Arkansas streets of slush and ice.
Wednesday's winter storm gave way to cloudless skies and highs hovering around freezing before overnight temperatures in the teens refroze the snowmelt. Today's highs should reach the mid-40s, according to the National Weather Service. The weekend forecast is sunny with highs in the 50s.
"A lot of sun, and a lot warmer," meteorologist Karen Hatfield said from the weather service's Tulsa, Okla., office. "We'll probably be into the low 60s by the middle of the week, if not sooner."
Road crews continued their work Thursday, but school and business closings across Northwest Arkansas kept accidents low, officials in Benton and Washington counties said. Sgt. Craig Stout with Fayetteville Police said two wrecks had been reported by Thursday afternoon, what he called an "exceptionally low" number.
One serious accident was reported at 10 a.m. along Interstate 49 near Elm Springs. One man, 31, was taken to the Northwest Medical Center in Springdale.
Thursday's sunshine was a gift to crews, officials agreed.
"It's cold out there, but that sun does wonders," said Shawn Shrum, assistant superintendent at the Washington County Road Department, which had workers out starting at 5 a.m. "The sun came up, it started melting, and it's coming off pretty good."
Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport's runway was clear Thursday, said Scott Van Laningham, director. The airport wasn't closed during the storm but dealt with flight cancellations from around the country Wednesday.
"It is looking much better here today," Van Laningham said, advising travelers to always check with their airline and leave early for the airport during bad weather.
Still, the thaw presented some problems. Unpaved county roads likely will be muddy and untouched by plows, Shrum said, since big trucks would only rip up the dirt until everything dries out.
"We're getting quite a few complaints about that," Shrum said. "We're trying -- as soon as we can, we'll get to them."
Any water that melted can also refreeze into solid sheets of smooth ice with nighttime lows. Sam Goade, director of Springdale's Public Works Department, urged drivers to continue driving carefully this morning.
"There will be some black ice," said Mike Churchwell, transportation director in Bentonville, where most main roads were clear by Thursday afternoon.
Below-freezing temperatures can be deadly for anyone caught in them, and shelters opened in response to the cold from Bentonville to Fayetteville.
Dump trucks plowing snow from highways in Northwest Arkansas were involved in two accidents Wednesday evening.
At about 5 p.m. Wednesday, a truck pulling the Highway Department's only tow plow ran into the median of Interstate 49 near Chester in Crawford County.
The truck was northbound in the inside lane when the plow, which extended from the passenger side across the outside lane, hit something, said Chad Adams, district engineer for the department's District 4 based in Fort Smith.
"When it catches on something, it sort of lifts the front wheels off the ground a little bit, and basically you can't steer."
While the truck carrying four tons of brine was stuck in the median, the plow remained extended across the "fast lane" of the interstate, Adams said.
"It just got over there in the soft dirt," he said. "With it being slick and wet, it couldn't move."
Adams said the truck was soon towed back onto the interstate and put back into service. He said the driver wasn't injured.
The Salvation Army shelter on 15th Street in Fayetteville normally has beds for about 45 people; 60 to 65 people turned up Wednesday night, Maj. N.J. Pope said Thursday. Cots had to be set up in the building's activity room to handle the crowd.
"We have blankets and cots, and we try to make as much space available as possible," Pope said. "While the numbers are at capacity, if we have one or two extra people, we're going to find a place for them."
The Salvation Army provides showers, breakfast and dinner as well. Pope assumed more people than usual also came to the Bentonville shelter on Southwest I Street as well, though he didn't know for sure. It's usually able to serve up to about 60 people.
Several area churches that typically provide community meals have been closed with local school cancellations, but Seven Hills Homeless Center at 1555 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Fayetteville still served lunch Thursday.
"We are open at a time where, otherwise, you'd just be out roaming around," said Melissa Moon, director.
Sunday could bring some rain, according to several forecast services. The Weather Channel and Weather Underground predicted a chance of around 30 percent for rain then, while the National Weather Service forecast showed a smaller chance.
"The chance is so slight," Hatfield said. "You guys are on the northern fringes of it."
In northeast Arkansas the storm dropped up to 11 inches of snow and pelted the central and southern parts of the state with hours of sleet and snow overnight Wednesday, closing scores of schools and businesses, knocking out power to some and rendering many roads impassible.
At the storm's peak, 5,425 Entergy Arkansas customers were without electrical service, spokesman Sally Graham said. The majority of power disruptions were reported in Hot Spring and Crittenden counties.
Graham said the snow and wind knocked down 23 spans of utility wire in Marion and Helena-West Helena, and six utility poles were toppled in the area.
Bono in northwest Craighead County received 11 inches of snow and sleet -- the most in the state, National Weather Service officials said. Blytheville and Pocahontas each reported 9 inches of snow and sleet, Little Rock saw 6 inches, West Memphis measured 5 inches of snow and sleet, while Fayetteville reported 2.5 inches.
NW News on 03/06/2015