Four days after sweltering in 95-degree temperatures, residents in Waldron had to turn their heaters back on and bundle up in near-freezing weather Thursday.
The Scott County town, which recorded the highest temperature in the state this year on Sunday, saw the mercury plummet to 36 degrees on Thursday morning. It was the lowest mark in the state, and it broke the city's previous low for May 15 of 40 degrees, set in 1973, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Smith of North Little Rock.
"We were wearing shorts earlier this week," said Regina Oliver, an administrative assistant for Waldron. "The next thing you know, we have to get our coats out again."
A strong upper-level low-pressure system over the Great Lakes this week has pushed cold Canadian air into Arkansas. It's a pattern that has occurred during the first five months of the year, causing temperatures in the state to dip well below normal, Smith said.
In addition to Waldron's chilly morning, 13 other Arkansas towns either tied or set records for their coldest May 15. Mena's 37 degrees beat the previous record of 40 set in 1981, and Des Arc's 43 degrees broke a 114-year-old record of 44 degrees.
Mountain View recorded 37 degrees Thursday morning, beating the 38-degree record set in 1997. Cabot's 38 degrees tied the record set in 1926. The 39-degree temperature in Dardanelle broke the 43-degree record set in 1973, and Keo reported 43 degrees, beating the 46-degree mark set in 1981.
Several towns also broke records for the lowest high temperatures for the day Thursday.
The mercury climbed to only 49 degrees in Mammoth Spring. The previous record for the lowest high mark in the Fulton County town for May 15 was 57 degrees, set in 2011. Cabot's high of 52 degrees shattered the previous lowest high of 66 degrees, also set in 2011.
"It's been an abnormally strong cold front," Smith said. "We could see more records set today [Friday]."
Oliver said she attended a softball game in Waldron on Tuesday evening and noticed that many in the crowd were bundled with blankets as the cold front began entering the state.
"Everybody had their coats on. They were wrapped up," she said. "That's not normal."
Rebecca Ables, an employee at Williams Cleaners and Laundry in Fordyce, said customers usually take in their winter clothes for cleaning by mid-May. This year, it's been slow so far, she said.
Fordyce's 40 degrees Thursday morning set a record low for the Dallas County town, beating the 44 degrees set three years ago.
"We had two people bring in coats this week," Ables said. "That's all. Usually, people start bringing in their winter coats. But it's been so cold for so long, lot of people are saying they're not bringing in them in until it's been warm for a few weeks."
It's been anything but slow for Robert Reeves, owner of Reeves Propane in Horseshoe Bend. Reeves has spent the week delivering propane to scores of homes, he said.
"It's definitely gas weather for the past few days," he said. "Lots of people thought winter was over, and they turned their pilot lights off. I'm going around now relighting them.
"People who ran out in April thought they wouldn't need any more propane until later this year," Reeves said. "They thought they could tough it out. But once you go a week without it, you realize you need more propane.
"Mother Nature throws you a curve every so often, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Temperatures are expected to climb through the weekend, returning to the upper 70s in the southern and central regions of the state and to the upper 60s and low 70s in the northern tier. Rain is expected for much of the state tonight and for most of the day Saturday.
Despite the record cold so far, Smith said Arkansans shouldn't expect a cool summer.
In 1980, the state had heavy snows in late March and April and then, within two months, a record heat wave struck. On the inverse, he said, in 1880, the first half of the year was unseasonably warm, but by mid-November, more than 10 inches of snow had fallen in Little Rock.
"You can't base one period on another period," he said. "You can't make a correlation from one time to the next in Arkansas."
Metro on 05/16/2014