A winter storm will bring periods of freezing rain to northern and west central Arkansas today and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.
"Upwards of a half inch of ice could fall with higher amounts possible from north central to northeast Arkansas," the Weather Service said late Tuesday. "This amount of ice could lead to power outages and will definitely bring travel issues with it."
The agency's ice forecast map showed as much as 1 inch of ice accumulation in a swath stretching from Van Buren County northeast through Lawrence County.
A winter storm warning was issued for the northern one-third of Arkansas for today through Thursday. A winter weather advisory was in effect for many counties in central Arkansas and the Ouachita Mountains.
There was a slight chance of a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain in the forecast for Little Rock on Thursday night as the temperature drops to about 28 degrees, but the high Friday is projected to be 46 degrees.
Jeff Hood, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said ice accumulation includes only freezing rain, not sleet or snow. Less than one inch of sleet and snow was in the forecast -- all of it northwest of a diagonal line from just north of Mena to Mountain View to Hardy.
"As moisture returns to Arkansas on Wednesday, precipitation will overspread the state from southwest to northeast," according to the Weather Service. "Precipitation will initially be sleet across western and northern Arkansas especially in the higher terrain areas such as the Ouachita and Ozark Mountains. Elsewhere, mostly a cold rain will be observed."
From tonight into Thursday, the precipitation will tend to be in the form of freezing rain across a large portion of northern into central Arkansas, according to the Weather Service.
On Thursday, temperatures could briefly rebound, warming enough for freezing rain concerns to lessen, according to the Weather Service.
"As rain departs the state Thursday night, colder air will again surge southward which could lead to a brief period of light snow before precipitation comes to an end area-wide," according to the briefing.
Dave Parker, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Transportation, said the agency was busy Tuesday putting salt brine on highways in northern Arkansas.
"We're out today with the salt brine hitting all the A routs -- major highways and certainly all parts of I-49," said Parker. He said highways in the Harrison and Mountain Home areas were also being treated with brine.
Parker said brine wasn't being applied to highways in the Little Rock area because primarily rain was in the forecast for the capital city at that time, and rain would wash the brine off the roads. Parker said crews were prepared with salt in case the forecast changes and highways in the Little Rock area begin to ice over.
The first in a wave of winter storms passed through Arkansas early Tuesday morning, spawning wind gusts that ripped roofs from buildings and downed some trees.
The National Weather Service said it received about 20 reports of wind damage early Tuesday morning, stretching from Russellville through northeast Arkansas.
Hood said the damage was "indicative of damaging wind gusts" of 60 to 80 miles per hour.
"That's not to say there wasn't a brief tornado in there somewhere," he said.
Several buildings in Randolph County were damaged by high winds.
Bo Graham, director of the county's Office of Emergency Management, said straight-line winds blew the roofs off two homes in Maynard and one in Biggers.
"A couple we talked to said they were abruptly awoken with their roof being gone, so it was quite scary," said Graham.
He said a tree fell on another home.
Graham said the wind also blew part of the roof off a metal building in Pocahontas. He said there was also damage to carports and outbuildings.
Graham said some power lines were down, but electricity was being restored to those homes.
At 5 p.m. Tuesday, Entergy Arkansas' outage map showed scattered power outages across the state, including 393 in Pulaski County and 309 in Garland County.
Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas had 602 members without power as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Regarding the impending ice, Entergy Arkansas has said one-eighth inch of freezing rain coating tree limbs and lines can begin to cause outages by breaking limbs hanging over power lines.
A half-inch accumulation of ice can add 500 pounds to power lines or tree limbs, which can break and fall onto people and property, according to the utility, which provides electricity to about 722,000 customers in 63 Arkansas counties.