Northern Arkansas got its first bit of winter weather Wednesday, and forecasters say there are at least two more snow-producing systems that will bring cold air to the state during the next several days.
Flurries began in Northwest Arkansas shortly before noon as an Arctic front moved into the state, but the snowfall did not accumulate, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sellers of Tulsa. The system was expected to push farther into the state during the evening Wednesday, he said.
The weather service said there was a slight chance of flurries and a mixture of snow and rain from a line from West Memphis southwest to Arkadelphia on Wednesday night and early this morning.
Skies are expected to clear later today.
"I saw a little bit of flurries that lasted a whole five minutes," said Virginia Patterson, an administrative assistant with the city of Gentry in Benton County. "I got really excited for a minute. I'm ready for snow."
Employees at an Edwards Grocery store in Harrison braced for an expected rush on bread and milk Wednesday evening.
"When people get off work they'll start their 'apocalypse shopping,'" store employee Chelsea Copple said. "When the temperatures dropped, it opened everyone's eyes. Winter is coming."
Harrison recorded a 19-degree temperature reading Wednesday morning.
Sellers said snow was expected to dust northeastern Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday with accumulation mostly in higher terrains. He said roads could be slippery in some areas early this morning.
"It's the first taste of winter," he said. "It could cause a few issues."
Once the system moves out of the state, temperatures are forecast to plummet and the wind to increase.
Fayetteville is expected to see a high of only 31 degrees today, and the mercury is forecast to dip to 11 degrees tonight.
Wind chills are forecast to drop into the single digits in northern Arkansas and to the teens in the central part of the state tonight. Wind chill is a calculation that describes the combined effect of wind and low temperatures on exposed skin.
[EMAIL UPDATES: Sign up for free breaking alerts or daily newsletters with the day's top headlines]
Winds will calm overnight, and Friday will see slightly higher temperatures, forecasters said.
If the temperature drops to below 22 degrees in Little Rock tonight, it will be lowest temperature recorded in the state's capital since March 2015.
"We may very well beat that low [tonight]," said National Weather Service meteorologist Willie Gilmore of North Little Rock.
It is early for such low temperatures, Gilmore said, but it's not rare. In November 2014, Arkansas recorded several days with temperatures dipping to about 15 degrees, he said.
"It may be a bit early, but winter is approaching," Gilmore said.
A second cold blast is expected to hit the state Sunday, producing a slight chance for light snow.
And another cold boundary is forecast to reach the state later next week producing a third round of cold, Gilmore said.
"It's going to be a roller coaster for the next several days," he said.
Flurries fell Wednesday afternoon at the Wonderland Christmas Tree Farm in Pea Ridge, giving the 38-acre farm a wintry ambience if only for a few minutes.
"We had a nice 10-minute blast of snow," owner Jill Babb said. "It was wonderful."
She said many customers cut trees at the farm last weekend when the weather was mild, but some opted to wait until it got cooler.
"We had one family come out today specifically because it was going to snow," Babb said.
"If we had more snow, that would be nice," she said. "We would be happy to have it."
State Desk on 12/08/2016