Storm’s 1st part drops snow in state; round of ice up next

Traffic heading south on Interstate 540 slows Wednesday Feb. 20, 2013 between Springdale and Johnson. Snow fall in northwest Arkansas caused some traffic difficulties on the highway including vehicles that slid off the road. Springdale schools were closed an hour early due to the inclement weather.
Traffic heading south on Interstate 540 slows Wednesday Feb. 20, 2013 between Springdale and Johnson. Snow fall in northwest Arkansas caused some traffic difficulties on the highway including vehicles that slid off the road. Springdale schools were closed an hour early due to the inclement weather.

— Utility crews anticipated falling power lines, highway crews treated roadways, and shoppers rushed to grocery and convenience stores in preparation for a winter storm expected to ice over the northern third of the state Wednesday and early today.

The first part of a two wave system dropped more than 3 inches of snow on Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon, and light sleet and freezing rain pelted some areas of central Arkansas.

In Pope County, a dispatcher said three students were slightly injured when a Russellville school bus slid off an ice- and snow-covered road.

A larger system is predicted to deliver even more moisture and ice to the state early today.

National Weather Service meteorologists called for ice accumulations of a quarterinch to a half-inch in an area between Mena, Harrison and Paragould.

“We’re going to see temperatures aloft warm up,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Julie Lesko. “That means there’ll be more liquid, but as it falls into the cold air, it will transition into sleet and freezing rain.”

Forecasters predict areas north of Interstate 40 could see ice accumulate from early morning until midafternoon today. Temperatures are then forecast to rise above freezing, and the precipitation likely will become rainfall.

The weather service issued an ice-storm warning for 21 Arkansas counties. Othercounties in the northern third of the state are under winterstorm warnings and advisories.

Because of the turbulent warm air above, people in some areas could hear thunder during the snow and sleet, Lesko said.

In Fort Smith on Wednesday, large snowflakes covered the ground but didn’t severely hinder travel.

“There’s lots of flakes coming down now,” said Hema Kantilal, a manager at the Fort Smith Days Inn. “It was sticking and then melting, but it’s sticking again.”

In Fayetteville, customers grabbed bread and milk from grocery shelves as snow began to fall.

“It’s the essentials,” Harps Food Stores manager Justin Woodruff said of his customers’ purchases. “It’s always the first things to go.

“We’ve been busy all morning,” he said. “The idea of ice coming is what’s driving them. Some came in earlier, but seeing the snow is what’s really bringing them in.”

Wednesday’s snow prompted the early closure of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and several other schools. Arkansas State University-Mountain Home canceled its classes for Wednesday evening, as did the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Pulaski Technical College.

The school-bus crash Wednesday afternoon in Pope County involved a Russellville School District bus carrying about 10 people.

Three people, all believed to be students, suffered minor injuries and were taken to a Russellville hospital, sheriff’s dispatcher Shane Sapp said.

The accident happened about 4:05 p.m. on Alaskan Trail outside Russellville as students were being driven home. Sapp said the bus turned partially sideways and lodged against a tree.

That stretch of road was apparently especially slick, Sapp said, because several other cars also had gone off it. They were not involved in the bus wreck, though, and no injuries were reported in those accidents, he said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Piltz of Tulsa said the heaviest snowfall - between 3 inches and 4 inches - fell Wednesday in Crawford and Sebastian counties. About an inch of snow fell in Benton County, he said.

“The big concern is the second round that’s developing [Wednesday] night,” Piltz said. “We could see some power lines come down. I think we could count on that.”

Entergy Arkansas called in an additional 1,000 workers to help restore any powerknocked out by the storm.

“We will have more crews in the field, and will provide frequent status reports to make sure customers are well informed,” Brady Aldy, an Entergy transmission and distribution operations director, said in a news release.

Farther north, workers for the North Arkansas Electric Cooperative also prepared forthe ice.

Leah Rouse, a spokesman for the utility, said four or five crews from other electric cooperatives were traveling to Salem in Fulton County to be ready to work where needed.

She said the cooperative also received utility poles, lines and other materials earlier this week in preparationfor the storm.

“We learned a lot from the 2009 ice storm,” Rouse said, referring to a devastating storm that disrupted power to thousands of people across northern Arkansas.

“We don’t expect it to be as bad as then, but 1 degree in the temperature could make a big difference between rain and ice,” she said.

Customers flocked to the Murphy convenience store on U.S. 412 in Ash Flat before the storm hit, worker Haley Stubbs said.

“We’ve been pretty busy,” Stubbs said. “We’ve been selling gas and propane.

“They think it may be like it was last time,” she said, referring to 2009. “They’re worried, and they’re hoping it won’t be as bad.”

Nancy Pierce, a manager at Home Depot in Little Rock, said the store sold out of kerosene for home heating units Wednesday.

“It’s supposed to get bad,” she said. “People are getting prepared.”

Arkansas Highway and Transportation Departmentcrews spread sand, salt and chemicals on roads Tuesday and Wednesday, said Danny Straessle, a spokesman for the department.

He said roads in Northwest Arkansas were slushy from the snow but were not problematic.

In some areas of the state, highway workers went home early Wednesday so they could rest before clearing roadways today, Straessle said.

“There will be people out there working on the roads all of the time,” he said. “But we can’t plow ice off roadways. When it comes to ice, we urge motorists to just stay at home.”

Little Rock public-works crews began rotating 12-hour shifts Wednesday morning as they, too, readied for the winter storm. The department planned to use all 10 salt spreaders Wednesday night, spokesman Meg Matthewssaid in a news release.

Precipitation sticking to roads should melt this afternoon, but forecasters warn motorists some areas could see refreezing tonight.

By Friday, temperatures are forecast to go into the upper 30s in the northern edge of the state and to the upper 50s and low 60s in the south, Lesko said.

“The worst part will be during the day,” Lesko said. “And then it’ll warm up. Like they say, if you don’t like Arkansas weather, just wait five minutes.” Information for this article was contributed by Debra Hale-Shelton of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/21/2013

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