Snow, sleet forecast for north Arkansas

No buildup predicted farther south

A woman walks through heavy snow Friday in Philadelphia, which was hit by a system that dumped snow on much of the Northeast. Snow is in the forecast tonight for northern Arkansas, with as much as 2 inches accumulating before melting early Sunday.
A woman walks through heavy snow Friday in Philadelphia, which was hit by a system that dumped snow on much of the Northeast. Snow is in the forecast tonight for northern Arkansas, with as much as 2 inches accumulating before melting early Sunday.

Sleet and snow are predicted tonight in northern Arkansas with possible accumulation of as much as two inches in some parts of the Ozark Mountains.

But the white stuff won't stay around for long.

Charles Dalton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said the snow will melt early Sunday as the sun rises and temperatures climb into the 40s.

The ground is still warm after temperatures in the 70s on Thursday, Dalton said.

"It's not going to be a widespread, deep-enough snow for the snow itself to keep the ground from radiating heat out and serve as an insulation layer," he said.

Dalton said the most accumulation of snow on the ground will likely be in north-central Arkansas around Jasper in Newton County, Mountain View in Stone County and Mountain Home in Baxter County.

Farther to the east in Batesville and Ash Flat, people will probably see more sleet than snow, he said.

National Weather Service maps show possible accumulation across northern Arkansas from Harrison to the Mississippi River.

Marlene Mickelson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Memphis, said Jonesboro may get as much as a half-inch of accumulation tonight.

"It may be more sleet, a little bit of snow, probably no freezing rain," she said.

Mickelson said people as far south as Poinsett County in northeast Arkansas could see some sleet or snow on the ground early Sunday.

Although no snow or sleet accumulation is predicted as far south as Little Rock or as far west as Fayetteville, Dalton said people may see snowflakes as far south as Pine Bluff and Hot Springs between 3 a.m. and sunrise Sunday, but there won't be any accumulation south of the Interstate 40 corridor in western Arkansas.

"We've got a high pressure to the north of us," Dalton said. "That'll keep north to northwest winds going across the top of the state."

Those winds will collide with a storm system coming up from the Gulf Coast, causing the chance for wintry precipitation, Mickelson said.

Dalton said another wintry weather system will move through the state late Sunday and early Monday, bringing snow but no accumulation to points north of a line from Clarksville to Heber Springs to Batesville.

High temperatures for north Arkansas are predicted to be in the 40s on Sunday and the 50s on Monday. The high in Little Rock is expected to be 50 degrees Sunday and 56 degrees Monday.

Metro on 03/11/2017

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