May snow one for books

On Friday, for the first time in recorded history, it snowed in May in Arkansas.

One to 3 inches of snow accumulated in parts of Benton, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Newton and Washington counties, according to the National Weather Service. Also, eight-tenths of an inch of snow was measured Friday near Queen Wilhelmina State Park in Polk County.

Gravette in Benton County had the most snowfall Friday with 3.5 inches, said John Lewis, senior forecaster with the weather service in North Little Rock. Eureka Springs got 1.5 inches of accumulated snow, and Fayetteville had half an inch, he said.

“It was quite a sight,” Gravette Mayor Byron Warren said. “The most snow we got all year - in one day in May.”

By early afternoon, most of the snow had melted as temperatures neared 40 degrees.

“Most of it has melted away, but it sure was a beautiful morning,” Warren said.“My peonies, it did smush them down and kill them, so I don’t know how my flowers are going to last. It looks like it got to my plants before they could bud out. Hopefully it will kill off a few bugs that have been around and maybe some of these weeds that have me mowing already.”

Organizers of outdoor events, including the Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, announced postponements because of the wacky weather. The play’s opening was canceled Friday, and it will open today instead.

The snowfall was significant and historical, Lewis said.

“We haven’t had a snow this late in the year ever on record,” he said. The National Weather Service has records for Arkansas dating from the late 1800s.

The previous record for a late-season snowfall in Arkansas was April 30, 1903, when snowflakes were seen in the sky in Fayetteville, Harrison and Gravette, but there was no accumulation that time, Lewis said.

The previous record for late-season snowfall accumulation was April 24, 1910, when two-tenths of an inch of snow was measured in Corning in Clay County, Lewis said.

Several records would likely be broken Friday because of the cold weather, Lewis said. Those records involve record-low high temperatures for the day, he said.

The previous record-low high temperature in Little Rock for May was 52 degrees, set on May 2, 1994. By late afternoon Friday, the high in Little Rock had reached only 46 degrees.

Some areas of the state had lows near 32 degrees early Friday morning, Lewis said.

The snowfall began before sunrise Friday.

Many Northwest Arkansas residents awoke to find snow covering lush green trees and flowers that had already bloomed. Snow continued to fall in some areas through midmorning.

Snow on leaves can stress plants and break limbs, Lewis said.

But the cold snap probably won’t affect Arkansas’ row crops, according to a news release from the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Arkansas System’s Division of Agriculture.

Winter-wheat growers were worried because the crop is flowering, and that is its most sensitive stage for freeze damage, said Jason Kelley, an Extension Service wheat and feed-grains agronomist.

“Temperatures down to 30 degrees just for a little while could cause significant damage,” he said. “Fortunately, most forecasts are calling for lows that will be above freezing.”

Most of the falling snow accumulated in Northwest Arkansas, but areas farther east - such as Harrison and Omaha in Boone County and parts of Newton County - saw a light dusting, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Goudsward in North Little Rock.

Ben Fruehauf, owner of the Gilbert General Store, said a few people who traveled to float the Buffalo National River instead rented cabins and put off their river trip, hoping for warmer weather today.

Forecasters said Thursday that there could be a chance many Arkansas towns would see record-low temperatures Friday, but Goudsward said cloud cover earlier in the day and overnight kept temperatures higher.

The weather service was forecasting Friday night’s low at 36 degrees for Little Rock and 32 degrees for Fayetteville. Highs today were projected to be 52 degrees in Little Rock and 51 degrees in Fayetteville.

Farther east, the upper-level storm system dumped heavy rain. About 4 inches of rain fell on Poinsett County, Goudsward said; 2 inches to 3 inches of rain fell in a narrow band from Helena-West Helena to Paragould.

Rains caused the St. Francis River to reach flood stage in Lake City in Craighead County, but Mayor John Milligan said the small town’s levee was keeping water at bay.

“We’re fine,” he said. “Some of the lower areas on the other side [of the levee] are flooding, but we’re doing good.”

The state Highway and Transportation Department closed a section of Arkansas 226 east of Cash to Jonesboro because of high waters Friday afternoon.

In south Arkansas, temperatures dipped into the 40s, and northwest winds blew at 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph, prompting the weather service to issue a lake wind advisory Friday afternoon.

But even without a freeze, the cold, wet weather slowed planting for growers and slowed plant development for most crops, according to the UA news release.

Gardens will be fine if sensitive plants are covered with blankets or pots when the low gets near 32 degrees, said Berni Kurz, Washington County extension agent staff chair. Two weeks ago, the temperature dropped into the mid-20s, and the same procedure was recommended then, he said.

The extension service normally recommends planting gardens in mid-April, but this year we had a late spring, Kurz said.

“Typically with a late spring, you have a late frost, and this was a late spring,” he said.

“Mother Nature knows what she’s doing.”

Normally, the temperature has to drop to 28 degrees to damage fruit, he said.

Temperatures are expected to be in the 40s and 50s today across Arkansas and gradually rise to normal by Wednesday, Lewis said.

Normally this time of year, highs would be in the mid-70s in Fayetteville and about 80 degrees in Little Rock.

The late cold snap caused the cancellation or postponement of springtime events scheduled for Friday and today across Northwest Arkansas.

Events that were scheduled for today and will be postponed include Springfest in Fayetteville and the ArtRageous Parade in Eureka Springs. An Old Crow Medicine Show concert planned for today at the Arkansas Music Pavillion, an outside venue in Fayetteville, has been rescheduled for June 23.

The event, which began in 1983, often has been plagued by unpredictable weather, such as storms and cold fronts.

“Springfest always attracts weird weather,” said Corey Gilbert, an employee of Jose’s Restaurant who is on the committee for the event. “It used to be held around the middle of April. It wasn’t held last year. When we put this committee together, we decided to push it back to May to hope for some better weather. That was our thinking process, but apparently that didn’t work out for us.”