Snow in southern part of the state causes little pain

By Kenneth Heard

Posted: February 13, 2010 at 3:42 a.m.

STEPHEN B. THORNTON
2/12/10 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON Robin Coleman shrieks as she slides on a carboard box down a hillside near the Grand Promenade in Hot Springs National Park Friday afternoon. Coleman and her husband Lawrence drove from their Houston, Texas home Thursday to enjoy a Valentine's Day weekend getaway in Hot Springs and to play in the snow.

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Southern Arkansas residents received a glimpse of winter Friday after a system that produced heavy snow in Texas brushed into the Natural State and left up to 6 inches of snow.

But it was short-lived. By Friday afternoon, temperatures rose well above freezing, and whatever snow had covered the ground all but melted away.

“It was like a dream,” Crossett Deputy City Clerk Guylene Evans said. “It came overnight, and now it’s gone.Where I’m sitting now I can’t see a speck of snow.”

Texarkana and the southwest corner of Arkansas received 4 to 6 inches of snow. A swath of the state from De Queen to El Dorado had 2 to 4 inches, and a line from Hot Springs to Monticello saw 1 to 2 inches of snow.

Roads were slush-covered overnight, but the rising temperatures quickly thawed the mess, said Randy Ort, a spokesman with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department.

“The snow didn’t cre-ate any major problems,” he said. “We had issues with some bridges, especially on the [Interstate 30] bridge over the Red River.

“But our crews focused on those,” he said. “By all accounts, I think we did a pretty good job.”

The snow did cause a few problems, however.

About 1,800 homes and businesses served by Southwestern Electric Power Co. in Arkansas were without power Friday morning, spokesman Peter Main said. But by Friday afternoon, fewer than 200 in Texarkana and Ashdown were without electricity, he said.

“We had an unusual amount of snow for that region,” Main said. “The weight of the snow caused tree limbs to bend into lines.”

The same system hammered Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. Dallas received 12.5 inches of snow Thursday,breaking a record set in 1964 for the most snowfall for a day.

Louisiana officials closed state offices in 42 parishes because of the snow, and Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour ordered the closing of state offices south of U.S. 82, which cuts across the northern half of the state from Greenville to Columbus.

By Friday afternoon, the storm system had moved into Alabama and Georgia.

Little Rock was spared snowfall this time because there wasn’t enough moisture in the air, said John Lewis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in North Little Rock.

“The snow tried to fall, but dry air won out,” he said.

Little Rock was still thawing out Friday from the 7.2 inches of snow that hit Monday, when most of the northern half of the state saw snowfall as well.

“People kept saying we’d get our turn,” said Annette Rogers, a clerk at the Stop and Shop in Bradley in Lafayette County. “It snowed everywhere else this week. We didn’t want it.

“But the mosquitoes needed killing,” she said. “Maybe the snow got to them.”

Thursday’s snowfall was the fourth winter storm to hit the state this year. Northwest Arkansas saw snow in early January, and much of the state was blanketed with snow Jan. 27 and again Monday.

“This is a typical El Nino pattern,” said Lewis, referring to a cyclical weather pattern that occurs every five to seven years.

The pattern creates high pressure over the Earth’s north pole and forces arctic jet air farther south. The cold air then collides with warmer moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and causes snow, sleet or freezing rain.

“We have the moisture all the time,” Lewis said. “When you throw in the cold air - whammo.”

Temperatures should climb into the upper 40s or even the low 50s in southern Arkansas by this weekend, he said.

The warming began almost as soon as the snow stopped Friday.

By Friday afternoon, melting snow turned to dirty slush in Hot Springs, and clouds formed overhead. Garland County Judge Larry Williams said the snowfall didn’t cause any problems for the county, and business went on as planned.

“It’s beautiful,” said Hempstead County Clerk Sandra Rodgers, who made it to the Hope County Courthouse on Friday morning with no trouble.

Classes at some south Arkansas schools, such as the Nevada School District and Bradley School District, closed because of the snow. Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia also canceled classes Friday.

In Mena, near the western edge of the state, residents enjoyed the snow.

“Just a beautiful snow with not all the problems,” Polk County Sheriff Mike Oglesby said.

Information for this article was contributed by Ginny LaRoe of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/13/2010

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