Travel remained treacherous across much of northern Arkansas on Monday as ice melted, then refroze, although main roads began clearing in central Arkansas.

Utility crews restored electrical service by late Monday afternoon to all but about 4,200 of the 62,000 customers who lost power in last week’s icy precipitation, and workers expect to restore power to everyone in the state by Wednesday.

The remaining power failures were concentrated in the service areas of Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative of Ozark and Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative of Mena, said Rob Roedel, a spokesman for Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. More than 35,000 homes and businesses served by the cooperatives lost power after snow, freezing rain and sleet fell on the state Thursday evening and Friday.

“It was bad enough,” Roedel said. “But it could have been worse if we had more ice. God watched over us.”

Entergy Arkansas Inc. reported that it had restored service to all of its customers by Monday afternoon. At its peak, 13,000 customers of the state’s largest utility company were without electricity Friday.

Some other signs of normalcy began to return Monday.

State offices in the Little Rock area opened two hours later than usual to allow employees extra time to make it to work. Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Gov. Mike Beebe, said he expects state workers will return to normal hours today.

Scores of schools and most public universities remained closed Monday because of icy roads. But the University of Central Arkansas in Conway opened at 10 a.m. Monday and rescheduled final exams missed due to the weather. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock opened at noon; regular hours resume today.

The Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts will all reopen today, as will Arkansas State University. However, public schools in Northwest Arkansas closed for a third day Monday, and many districts announced Monday afternoon that classes wouldn’t be held today, either.

“The farther north you go, the worse it gets,” said Randy Ort, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department. “We’re removing … loose material today. We’re putting down sand and salt again. Sunshine would go a long way today.”

Ort said Interstate 40 had shown “tremendous improvement” Monday, but he was concerned about melting ice and snow refreezing overnight. “It’s been quite a challenge,” he said.

Ice caused a tractor-trailer to jackknife Monday on Interstate 540 south of the Bobby Hopper Tunnel in Crawford County, according to the Arkansas State Police. The wreck slowed traffic on the interstate for two hours Monday morning.

Lt. John Overman with state police Troop L in Springdale said the interstate was in better shape than most roads in the area.

“The counties have called in,” he said at about noon Monday. “They’re still showing all the secondary highways ice-covered and slick.”

Arkansas Forestry Commission crews continued clearing fallen trees, limbs and other debris that blocked rural roads and access roads in west-central Arkansas on Monday, commission spokesman Adriane Barnes said.

In Sebastian and Logan counties, teams used chain saws and bulldozers to remove trees on Echo Road near the county line. They also cleared Polk County Road 14 near Wickes, Polk County Road 78 between Mena and Hatfield and Backbone Mountain Road between Clarksville and Booneville in Logan County, Barnes said.

During the weekend, a crew cleared fallen trees from a 10-mile stretch of Eagle Mountain Road in Polk County that leads to an Arkansas Department of Emergency Management radio-repeater site.

The National Weather Service issued freezing rain advisories for the southeastern corner of the state for Monday evening and early this morning. Arkansas’ northern edge of counties could also see a light dusting of snow, meteorologist Julie Lesko of North Little Rock said.

The forecast also said some light wintry precipitation might fall Monday night over parts of central Arkansas. Sleet began falling across parts of the Little Rock metropolitan area early Monday evening.

Temperatures are expected to climb above freezing - reaching the mid-40s in central Arkansas by Thursday - and melt the wintry mess.

Cary Dunn, the director of the Dallas County Office of Emergency Services, checked roads early Monday after freezing rain briefly fell on the county over the weekend.

“It was just enough to create problems,” he said. “The roads are dry now.”

He wasn’t looking forward to any more wintry weather.

“We met with the hospital and nursing home and schools before this came. We had our plan in place, and we were sure we were good to go. But if anything else comes, I’d much prefer rain over snow.”

Further north, Pope County Road Department crews continued spreading sand and salt Monday afternoon to help motorists navigate on the ice-covered roads. The area received half an inch of sleet Thursday, followed by 4 to 5 inches of snow.

“We sure had a rough round of it,” Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson said. “We handled the snow, but the ice gave us trouble. It’s been a bad headache for the past few days.”

He said the eastern edge of Pope County didn’t receive much snow, but the western and northern sections were “hammered.”

The storm system set up with bands of precipitation, Lesko said, meaning some areas received generous amounts of snow and ice while nearby areas were spared. Jonesboro, for instance, measured about 2 inches of ice and snow. Randolph County, some 30 miles to the northwest, was blanketed by 5 to 6 inches of snow.

“It set up as parallel bands,” Lesko said. “Some areas saw heavier areas of precipitation.”

Forecasters originally prepared for a major ice storm expected to hit west-central Arkansas.

“One degree [of temperature] can make a huge difference,” she said.

In Calico Rock, an Izard County town of 1,527, 12 inches of sleet and snow fell Thursday and Friday.

On Monday, roads were still treacherous, Mayor Ronnie Guthrie said.

“Everything is a sheet of ice,” he said. “We’re ready for it to warm up and get rid of this ice.”

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/10/2013