The Arkansas Department of Transportation wasn't expecting a shout-out from a Grammy-award winning rapper about highway conditions in the state.
But Nelly was apparently impressed with the lack of ice on Arkansas' roads, so he mentioned it during a concert Thursday night at JJ's Live in Fayetteville.
"He did make some reference to that," said Jody Thornton, owner of the venue.
Thornton said Nelly left Atlanta in his tour bus about midnight Wednesday and arrived in Fayetteville about 1 p.m. Thursday, traveling across Arkansas while the state was in the throes of a two-day winter storm.
"We had a lot of people who were excited that we still had the show," said Thornton.
Others were disappointed because they couldn't travel in the ice, but about 1,300 attended, said Thornton. He said they sold 78% of the available tickets. There were three warm-up bands.
The winter storm prompted schools, businesses and government offices across Arkansas to close. Several flights into and out of Arkansas airports were canceled Wednesday and Thursday.
Dylan Cooper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said a slow drizzle -- instead of a downpour -- meant that roads didn't ice over as much as expected in the Little Rock area.
Dave Parker, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department, said it was refreshing to get a question from a television reporter Friday about Nelly's comment.
"I said I was very thankful for the comment, the praise for the men and women out there clearing the roads," said Parker. "They don't get enough credit, and it's nice to know it's being recognized. I said I was happy here in Arkansas we could accommodate him so that his concert continued and people can enjoy a good time."
At his news briefing Friday morning, Gov. Asa Hutchinson had kind words for utility workers and National Guard soldiers who assisted Arkansas State Police during the winter storm.
"We actually came through the winter storms very well as compared to what could have happened," said Hutchinson. "The counties that have been most severely impacted have been Cross, Crittenden, Lee, Monroe, St. Francis and Woodruff counties. They've been hit the hardest with downed trees and power lines."
Utility companies have been working hard to restore power in those counties, said Hutchinson.
Eighty Arkansas National Guard soldiers and airmen were deployed to assist the state police during the ice storm.
"Because the storm has subsided, the National Guard mission will be terminated today at noon," Hutchinson said Friday. "They were very instrumental at being pre-positioned, but also they rescued about a dozen motorists during this time."
Entergy Arkansas had as many as 30,000 customers without electricity at any one time during the winter storm, said Brandi Hinkle, a spokeswoman for the utility. At midafternoon Friday, she said power had been restored to more than 59,000 customers, but there were still about 16,000 without electricity at that time. By late Friday afternoon, there were fewer than 12,000 outages. Entergy Arkansas has 722,000 customers in 63 counties. Outage maps can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3shrEgi.
The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas had about 4,000 outages late Friday afternoon.
"At the peak of this round of severe winter weather, the state's 17 local electric cooperatives had about 11,000 members without service," said Rob Roedel, a spokesman for the cooperatives. "Crews were dispatched to the hardest-hit areas of the state which included northeast and eastern Arkansas. Woodruff Electric Cooperative of Forrest City experienced the most widespread damage in St. Francis County."
The Electric Cooperatives have about 600,000 members. Outage maps can be viewed at https://outages.aecc.com/outages/maps.
On Friday morning, the Arkansas Department of Transportation tweeted: "There should be enough salt residue on the roadways to not require full crews tonight, allowing some much-deserved rest for many of our road warriors! As always, we will be prepared if work is required overnight. Here comes the sun! Enjoy a clear weekend here in Arkansas!"
About noon, there was another tweet from the Transportation Department: "Can confirm: We are past the winter storm, skies are sunny, and all major routes are clear for travel to Bud Walton Arena this weekend."
The No. 18 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks basketball team will play the No. 6 ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Fayetteville today.
Parker said he hopes this is the last winter storm of the season, but he doesn't want to jump the gun.
"We all hope this is the last system of the winter, but I don't know," he said. "March can be difficult, so I'm not by any means thinking we're though the winter."
Eric Green, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said "we'll have one last shot of a little bit of freezing drizzle, freezing rain" over the weekend.
He said an icy glaze could coat roads in south Arkansas this morning and central and north Arkansas on Sunday morning. But it would melt as it got warmer during the day. The high temperature today is forecast to be about 40 degrees across Arkansas. On Sunday, the highs will range from the 40s into the 50s.
Green said no sleet or snow accumulation is expected in Arkansas over the weekend.
Ice clings to trees Friday as visitors cross the bridge at the Old Mill in North Little Rock. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staton Breidenthal)