Snowfall was expected to last into this morning, the second straight day of flakes for Northwest Arkansas.
No, this isn’t a reprint from December or January.
The snow that began Thursday night marked the latest ever recorded in Arkansas, but the record wasn’t expected to last long. Another round expected Friday night should have left another inch or two covering the region this morning.
The storms beat out the dusting of snow reported in Gravette, Fayetteville and Harrison on April 30, 1903, according to National Weather Service records. Gravette was the hardest-hit Friday. Weather spotters measured as much as 5 inches, although most melted before noon Friday, said Amy Jankowski, a meteorologist with the weather service’s Tulsa office.
Friday afternoon forecasts called for another 1 to 2 inches throughout Northwest Arkansas on Friday night and this morning, she said.
The system left some of the typical winter-storm results. An Ozarks Electric Cooperative circuit blew in the Woolsey community south of West Fork before dawn Friday, leaving several hundred customers without power for two to three hours, said Penny Storms, public relations manager for the co-op. A tree fell on an AEP Swepco line near Prairie Grove, killing power to about 350 customers for almost an hour, about the same time, said Peter Main, a Swepco spokesman.
Warm ground temperatures kept most accumulation off pavement, although about a dozen car accidents scattered throughout the region Friday morning are being blamed on snow, according to dispatchers for the Arkansas State Police.
The fluffy white stuff didn’t affect the runway at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, although there were some delays because of the storm system hitting other regions harder, said Scott VanLaningham, executive director of the airport.
“A storm like that will send ripples throughout the entire system,” he said.
Some less-typical issues also arose. No snow fell at Turner Bend, along the Mulberry River in Franklin County, but temperatures hovered around 40 degrees Friday afternoon.
“We’ve got the entire Northwest Arkansas Canoe Club out here, same as they’ve been for 38 years, the weekend before Mother’s Day, and it’s just darn cold,” said Brad Wimberly, owner of the Turner Bend Store and a canoe and rafting outfitter. “We had great weather Monday and Tuesday, although most folks had to work. Our reservation list for this weekend is shrinking fast, even though we do rent wetsuits.”
The snow, along with April rains, should help extend the floating season longer than normal, he said.
“We’ve got plenty of water. Usually by this time of year, it’s starting to get low, but we’ve got several more good weeks ahead,” he said.
Chris Ranalli was out early Friday, checking the grapevines at Ranalli Farms for damage. He planned to do the same this morning.
“I didn’t see anything burned, and it didn’t get too cold for too long, so I hope we’ll be OK with the grapes,” he said.
Other produce, including tomatoes, peppers and squash, was still in greenhouses and wasn’t affected at all, he said.
Some gardeners who planted early, especially tomatoes and other vegetables sensitive to the cold, could see some loss, but it’s not too late to replant if needed, said Bernie Kurtz, an agent with the Washington County Extension Service.
“The gardeners and the hobby growers could see some impact, but for the bigger farmers, there’s almost no such thing as too much water,” he said.
Temperatures are expected to warm throughout the weekend and into next week before cooling again by May 8 or 9, Jankowski said.
“It’ll cool back off, but we doubt it will be enough to bring another round of snow at that point,” she said.