Abundant sunshine helped melt snow and ice off many of Arkansas' roadways Wednesday after the state recorded three deaths on them, but forecasters expect another round of frozen precipitation for Arkansas before the weekend as a new arctic blast arrives.
National Weather Service meteorologists said the northern half of the state will likely get 1 to 3 inches of snow this evening and Friday morning before temperatures rise enough to turn the snow into freezing rain Friday afternoon.
"There could be some issues Friday, especially in northeast Arkansas," said weather service meteorologist Julie Lesko of North Little Rock.
Temperatures are expected to continue rising through Friday, so the freezing rain could be short-lived, turning into a cold rain late in the day. Forecasters are calling for thunderstorms and heavy rainfall on Saturday for most of the state as temperatures climb into the 60s in the south and 50s elsewhere.
Snow, sleet and freezing rain glazed the northern two-thirds of the state Sunday evening and snow returned Tuesday night in a repeat pattern in which cold air from an aggressive jet stream rushes into Arkansas from the north to collide with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico..
The weather service issued a wind-chill alert through noon today, saying chill values could drop from zero to 12 degrees below zero in northern Arkansas. The wind chill is a calculation that describes the combined effect of wind and low temperatures on exposed skin.
Roads were still slick enough Wednesday morning for dozens of schools statewide to cancel classes for the third day in a row, including those of the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special districts.
The Little Rock School District was to open two hours late Wednesday to allow for roads to clear but in short order canceled for the day, sending parents scurrying to find alternatives for their children.
"Initially, the school made its decision based upon the best information we had at the time," Little Rock School District spokesman Pamela Smith said. "We had six crews from our transportation department drive through trouble spots [Tuesday evening]. At that time, it was OK."
But about an inch of snow fell quickly as a squall blew through central and eastern Arkansas late Tuesday, causing school officials to reconsider.
"As it turned out, conditions were a little tougher for the students and parents who have to navigate the terrain to get to the schools," Smith said.
Highway deaths
By Wednesday afternoon, the sun had helped clear major roadways although highway officials warned motorists that any melting would refreeze each night, causing treacherous conditions.
Three motorists have died this week in weather-related accidents.
Earl Scott, 67, of Viola died when his vehicle veered off U.S. 62 in Fulton County and struck a tree at 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. Road conditions were dry, but it was snowing at the time, the Arkansas State Police reported.
On Wednesday, Charlestine Jefferson, 59, of Detroit died at 6:40 a.m., when the vehicle she was a passenger in slid on ice and into oncoming traffic in the 11800 block of Otter Creek Parkway in Pulaski County.
Gertrude Brock, 65, of Crossett was killed Monday evening when she lost control of her vehicle on icy U.S. 82 in Chicot County.
A top trucking executive said Wednesday that the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department's work on clearing the roads has largely improved since a major storm last February that caused more than 150 accidents in the Little Rock area alone.
"I haven't received any calls or complaints or compliments" about road conditions, said Shannon Samples Newtown, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association. "I take it as a good thing because they don't usually call to compliment."
She also said that after the storm she had no trouble on I-30, which she drives for her daily commute between her Saline County home and her office in Little Rock.
Accidents are going to happen, whether it is in a snowstorm or a summer day, Newton said.
Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department spokesmen said the agency's new and bigger trucks made a significant difference in its response to the winter storm.
"Everybody has an opinion on the quality of the road clearing," spokesman Danny Straessle said. "There are areas where we excelled and areas where we could've done better."
Last year, the department's vehicle fleet had only one "belly-plow" truck, which carries a larger payload and features a plow underneath the truck body in addition to the blade mounted on the front. Such trucks are more effective at removing snow and ice from roadways than the conventional dump trucks that the agency regularly deploys.
After the department's response to last winter's snow and ice drew criticism from then-Gov. Mike Beebe and lawmakers, senior agency officials pledged to acquire better equipment and beef up its maintenance personnel, with an additional 200 employees stationed throughout its 10 districts around the state.
The department's budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 shifted $18 million from construction to hire the additional full-time employees, purchase new equipment -- including 13 belly-plow trucks -- and spend more money on sand and salt.
Five of the six belly-plow trucks stationed in central Arkansas were sent to northeast Arkansas, where weather forecasts suggested the winter storm would pose the biggest problem, he said.
"We figured that the Interstate 55 corridor would be ground zero," Straessle said. "The five trucks kept [the lanes] clear. Yesterday, they started moving down I-40 to Little Rock."
Another belly-plow truck was assigned to Interstate 630 in Little Rock "right off the bat," spokesman Randy Ort said.
"The real benefit of the belly plow is it [takes] one pass to clear a lane," Straessle said. "The regular plows require several passes."
The new trucks also can remain on the road longer, carrying spreaders that in some cases hold more than double the material of older models.
The belly-plow trucks are considerably costlier than the older models, costing about $185,000 for a truck "tricked out" with a spreader, front-end plow and the hydraulics necessary to operate them, Straessle said. The average cost of the older trucks is $120,000.
The department said storm response remains a work in progress, however. There are 21 more belly-plow trucks on order to add to the agency's fleet of 780 dump trucks.
"We can't just go out and buy 500 belly-plow trucks," Straessle said.
Besides the infrastructure improvements, the department also caught a break when its crews pre-treated bridges and overpasses on Saturday and Sunday, Ort said.
More often than not, freezing precipitation is preceded by rain, which can wash away the pre-treatment and render it ineffective. But the rain didn't come this time, Ort said.
Still, the storm generally dropped ice onto the roads rather than snow. Combined with the extremely low temperatures, that ice always presents problems for department personnel, Ort said.
As a result, traffic crashes did occur, many involving tractor-trailer rigs, causing backups on several interstates after the storm.
Meanwhile, other parts of the South fared worse. Tennessee declared a state of emergency Monday night, citing rapidly deteriorating road conditions and major interstate traffic problems, according to the Chattanooga Times Free-Press.
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency issued the declaration at 9 p.m. Monday. The agency said in a statement posted online that the declaration came as motorists were backed up on Interstate 40 and as part of Interstate 24 was closed because of an earlier backup, according to the newspaper.
Local road clearing
In Fayetteville, road crews continued to work 24-hour shifts to treat problem spots caused by overnight refreezing, but planned to finish up that effort today.
"The roads are looking good," said Jennifer Murray-McClain, an operations assistant for Fayetteville's Transportation Division. "The sun has helped us a lot."
"We might be back on them this weekend, though," she said of the round-the-clock shifts, referring to the forecast for more snow and ice.
Roads were still ice-covered at Lake Fort Smith State Park on Wednesday after 3 inches of sleet, freezing rain and snow fell on the area.
"Ice is on every branch. It's so gorgeous," said Annette Schneider, an assistant at the state park. "The sun is gleaming on it and makes everything look like it's made of crystal."
Crews with the Little Rock Public Works Department worked through Wednesday evening to clear any icy roads, city spokesman Luis Gonzalez said.
"After more than 72 hours of continuous work and using in excess of 1,500 cubic yards of sand and salt materials, the streets in Little Rock are mostly clear," he said.
Power was largely restored Wednesday, as well. Entergy Arkansas, the state's largest utility, reported about 800 homes and businesses remained without power late Wednesday afternoon, down from a peak of 30,000 power failures.
Utility workers expected to have all electrical service restored by Wednesday evening, spokesman Julie Munsell said.
More than 200 people stayed at the Little Rock Compassion Center on West Roosevelt Road on Tuesday evening, Director William Holloway said. As temperatures dropped Wednesday, more arrived. Holloway expected up to 300 would end up spending the night.
"We'll see a lot of people who normally sleep outside come in," he said.
Forecasters say the latest round of inclement weather is not uncommon for February. Two years ago, Northwest Arkansas saw snow in May.
"If you have a short-term memory, this is a bad winter," said Taylor Trogdon, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Memphis. "But we've not had a very bad winter this year, although the pattern supports [that] we may see more blasts of winter in the foreseeable future before it finally warms up for good."
Information for this article was contributed by Shea Stewart of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 02/19/2015