Entergy Arkansas reported Thursday afternoon that the sleet and freezing rain that interrupted service to nearly 5,000 customers over a 24-hour period had mostly passed through the state.
Crews were working Thursday afternoon to restore power to approximately 840 customers that remained without electricity, and Entergy officials expected power to be restored to those customers by 10 p.m. Thursday.
1:45 p.m.: Power outages seen across state as a result of winter storm
Thousands of power outages were reported across the state Thursday while forecasters predicted precipitation would continue in some areas into mid-afternoon.
According to Entergy, crews have been able to restore power to roughly 3,500 people. David Lewis, a company spokesman, said in an email that about 1,500 customers in Arkansas remained without power at about 1 p.m.
He said the company expected to restore power to areas still experiencing outages by 10 p.m.
The utility also notified residents late Thursday morning about two broken utility poles on I-55 near Blytheville. The poles were broken when an 18-wheeler snagged a power line covered in ice.
Traffic was briefly stopped for the clearing of the poles but restarted at about 11:15 a.m., Lewis said. The incident caused nearly 500 outages.
C&L Electric Cooperative of Star City saw nearly 2,800 outages out of the 22,000 it serves in nine southeast Arkansas counties, said Rob Roedel, Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas spokesman. Lincoln County was the hardest hit with about 1,500 outages Thursday afternoon.
Roedel said the outages were due to limbs on power lines.
Freezing rain and sleet continued to fall in parts of Arkansas on Thursday, Travis Shelton, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said. According to Shelton, the state received more sleet overnight than was previously predicted.
Early counts showed some places, such as Pine Bluff, received ¼-inch of ice, while Conway saw more than 1/10-inch of sleet mixed with rain, Shelton said. In North Little Rock, the weather service’s equipment was reporting under a half inch of sleet, according to Shelton.
EARLIER:
Areas across the state are experiencing power outages as a result of the inclement weather, according to Entergy.
According to a statement on their website, the company says they have assembled nearly 900 restoration resources, including mutual assistance crews, which just arrived in the state on Wednesday.
According to Entergy's website, the total number of outages Thursday morning was reportedly 4,681. A live map shows reported outages in each county in real-time, with the highest number of outages reported in Drew County with 1,792 outages reported.
Light freezing rain or freezing drizzle is expected to continue over the majority of the state until noon Thursday, forecasts show. An ice storm warning is still in effect for central and eastern parts of the state, while a winter weather advisory is in effect for the remainder of the state, according to the National Weather Service.
Forecasters said due to receiving more sleet than originally expected, the ice accumulations were lower than anticipated. However, sleet and freezing rain will continue into the afternoon, according to a NWS briefing.
According to forecasters, the coldest air of the season will arrive this weekend and early next week. The temperatures Sunday through Tuesday mornings will be in the single digits to the teens, with highs in the teens to 20s, according to the National Weather Service.
A southern Plains storm system expected to arrive Monday will bring good chances of snow, forecasters said. Additional snow is again possible mid-week.
Those without proper heating are encouraged to make preparations. Forecasters encourage if you have pets and/or animals outside, to check on them frequently or bring them into shelter if possible.
For up-to-date information about power outages, visit entergy.com/winterweather/.
For a real-time map showing road conditions, visit idrivearkansas.com/.
To see a list of school and business closings, visit arkansasonline.com/closings/.