State on ice once again

LITTLE ROCK — Freezing rain, sleet and snow glazed roads across two-thirds of the state Tuesday, forcing the closure of numerous schools and offices, and causing runs on grocery and hardware stores.

There were no immediate disruptions of electrical service because little ice accumulated on power lines, utility officials said.

All but the northwestern corner of the state saw some form of frozen precipitation, said National Weather Service meteorologist John Lewis of North Little Rock.

“It’s in the mid-20s,” Lewis said of temperatures in the state Tuesday morning. “Whatever falls will stick to the pavement.”

The Arkansas State Police saw numerous accidents, but there were no serious injuries reported as of early Tuesday evening.

Highway officials closed part of U.S. 63 between Imboden and Ravenden in northern Arkansas after ice and about 3 inches of snow made the road impassable and several tractor-trailers jackknifed.

The weather service initially issued an ice-storm warning only for the extreme southeast corner of the state early Tuesday. However, as more moisture built over Arkansas behind a stalled front over the southeast United States, the weather service extended its warning to the southeastern quarter of the state.

The system formed in Texas early Tuesday before moving into Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. Forecasters expect the system will move into the Ohio Valley today, generating more snow and freezing rain.

The weather service also issued a winter-weather advisory Tuesday morning from Mountain Home to Texarkana.

By midmorning, bridges and overpasses on most state highways were covered with ice, said Randy Ort, a spokesman with the state Highway and Transportation Department.

“We had crews on call out all night,” he said. “As long as any moisture is on the roads, because the temperatures are below freezing, we’ll have people out there.”

Traffic snarled on Interstate 40 between Brinkley and Hazen, where construction has closed all but one lane.

“The slow traffic was exacerbated by the weather,” Ort said.

Little Rock’s Public Works Department crews spread sand and salt on city streets, delaying crews from picking up debris left over from the Christmas Day snowstorm.

“Safety is our number one concern,” City Manager Bruce Moore said in a news release. “Our Public Works crews need to sand and salt our roads to decrease dangerous driving situations.”

City offices closed at 2 p.m., and the Board of Directors agenda meeting was canceled Tuesday.

In Conway, light snow and sleet led to the delay of a capital-murder trial at the Faulkner County Courthouse. The trial of Richard Conte, which adjourned shortly after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, is set to resume today at 10 a.m.

Snow and ice covered vehicles’ windshields, but by midafternoon most had melted as the snow and sleet turned to rain.

At Heigel Supply Hardware and Rental in Conway, salesman Kevin Horsley said customers keeping the Christmas Day snowstorm in mind were buying insulated gloves and salt to melt ice.

By 2:30 p.m., the store had sold three to four dozen pair of gloves, Horsley said.

He said the store ran out of snow shovels Monday when workers from the University of Central Arkansas bought eight to 10 of them. UCA closed at 4 p.m. Tuesday because of the weather.

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock; the University of Arkansas at Monticello; Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia; Henderson State University in Arkadelphia; Pulaski Technical College; the Little Rock School District; and numerous other school districts across the state closed Tuesday.

Today, the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special school districts will open one hour late, UALR is opening at 10 a.m. and Pulaski Tech is operating on a two-hour delay. State government offices in the Little Rock area will open two hours late today.

The weather didn’t hinder registration at Ouachita Baptist University, said Lauren Faulkner, an accountant at the university. Most of the students live on campus and had moved in during the weekend, she said.

“It’s sleeting and snowing, but it’s going pretty well,” she said Tuesday.

City offices in Pine Bluff closed just after noon, and Jefferson County Judge Dutch King dismissed county workers at 11 a.m.

A scheduled meeting of the Pine Bluff School Board also was canceled.

At the Brookshire’s grocery store on Hazel Street in Pine Bluff, manager Tiffany Curengton said business “boomed” late Tuesday morning and into the afternoon.

People were buying the customary milk and bread, along with “many other things,” she said.

“It’s been a stream all day,” Curengton said. “In fact, it started yesterday afternoon and has really continued. We are pretty well stocked and ready for the rush of customers.”

Randy Wisemoore of White Hall said he went to the store to stock up on necessities “just in case.”

“I really didn’t have a whole lot of food in the house, and I wanted to make sure that I had a few days’ worth if the lights go out,” he said. “I had that happen to me before, and it ain’t fun.”

In the parking lot, Regina Bell used a small ice scraper to clear the windows of her blue Volvo. She said her trunk was full of groceries.

“I’m heading home as soon as I’m through here,” she said. “You won’t see me until all this mess clears up.”

Customers also packed the Jade Foods store in Hamburg, the Ashley County seat.

“I’d say we have had at least 40 percent more business today than on a normal day,” said office manager Tonya Carter. “It’s just been nonstop.”

In northeast Arkansas, more than 2 inches of snow fell on Batesville by midmorning.

“As I drove to work this morning, I saw a pile of snow left from the Christmas snow,” said Jennifer Corter, Batesville city administrative assistant. “I thought, ‘That snow is just waiting for more snow to come.’”

Most of the snow and freezing rain left the state by nightfall. Temperatures were expected to climb into the 40s across most of Arkansas by this afternoon which will help melt any ice and snow that accumulated, Lewis said at the weather service.

“We saw some snow and ice today,” Lewis said. “But with the temperatures climbing, this will all be just a memory in not too long.”

Information for this article was contributed by Debra Hale-Shelton of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.