Black Hills Energy has restored gas service to more than 2,000 Pea Ridge customers, according to a company news release.
The company is working toward relighting approximately 2,300 customers and by midnight Wednesday had restored nearly 90% of customers who had lost service, according to the release.
Crews from Black Hills turned off all the gas meters by 10 p.m. Tuesday and repressurized the system shortly after midnight. The service was interrupted by low pressure in a line.
[LIST: School closings: nwaonline.com/closings]
Crews were going door to door to turn on gas meters, do safety inspections and start pilot lights. By mid-day, the company estimated the heat was back on for about 30% of the customers.
Black Hills will continue working today to restore service to customers who need it. Black Hills estimates at the current rate of progress that nearly all customers will have gas service restored today, according to the release.
The projects of completing nearly all relights Thursday are based on the current progress, but many factors could impact completion of the task, including complications from weather or difficulty connecting with customers in order to enter a residence to relight and test appliances, according to the release.
Lt. Michael Lisenbee, a spokesman for the Pea Ridge Police Department, said a shelter opened to house residents without gas service will remain open until every person's service is restored. Lisenbee said the shelter at Pea Ridge Middle School may remain open through the weekend if necessary. No one has used the shelter, Lisenbee said.
Channing Barker, a spokeswoman for Benton County, said primary asphalt roads are mostly clear, and crews will be working Thursday afternoon on secondary roads.
Crews came in at 5 a.m. Thursday. They have 18 grader trucks working to remove the snow and ice, Barker said.
Workers are still continuing to treat isolated spots with sand and salt.
Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards said there were two minor accidents in the city due to the ice and snow.
Edwards said city workers are running plows today, and he expects them to remove most of the snow and ice from roads.
Edwards said someone requested assistance on his Facebook page because an ice- and snow-covered driveway hampered a resident in a wheelchair from getting to his dialysis appointments. One resident saw the request and went to clear the driveway, and Centerton Police Chief Cody Harper went to the home to assist with removing the snow.
Capt. Chris Kelley with the Centerton Police Department also removed snow and ice from another resident's driveway, Edwards said. He said the officers provided the assistance on their own time.
Temperatures will slowly begin to rise over the next several days, though a single-digit low is forecast for Friday.
A high of 30 degrees and a low of 2 is predicted today in Fayetteville, according to the National Weather Service. A high of 37 is expected for Friday with a low of 23 at night.
Saturday will be sunny with a high near 46 and an overnight low of 35.
Sunday shows a high near 47 with a low around 30.
Monday also calls for sunny weather with a high near 58 and a low around 35, according to the Weather Service.
The depth of snow measured in Little Rock on Thursday morning tied a record set in 1918, forecasters said.
The snow, measured at Adams Field at the Bill and Hillary Clinton Airport, was 15 inches deep, the National Weather Service said in a Twitter post.
According to meteorologist Lance Pyle not all totals were complete yet, but he said, “there’s probably going to be a lot of records.”
Additionally, most weather warnings had been canceled as of Thursday morning, apart from a “hard freeze warning” in effect for southern parts of the state from 6 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday, the weather service said.
After the second round of snow this week, White Hall saw 11 inches of new snow, while 10.8 inches was reported in Bauxite; 8.5 inches in Arkadelphia; 6.8 inches in Cabot and 7.5 inches measured at the North Little Rock Airport, according to Pyle.
Sheridan saw the heaviest additional snowfall, with 15 inches of new snow, Pyle said.
Tracy M. Neal can be reached by email at [email protected] or Twitter @NWATracy.
Brianna Kwasnik contributed information on Central Arkansas to this story.
This story was originally published at 12:59 p.m.