Forecasters are warning of some potentially dangerous winter weather in the central Arkansas area this week.
The second of three winter weather systems is expected to move through the state Monday evening into Tuesday, leaving some potential for icing on roads and bridges. Freezing rain and sleet are likely, with some light ice accumulation possible for Tuesday morning.
But, National Weather Service Meteorologist Colby Pope says the central Arkansas area faces a larger threat of icy conditions Tuesday night into Wednesday.
“From about 5 p.m. onward then overnight, that’s when we’re going to see most of our ice accumulation… and then it will go throughout the evening on Tuesday into the early morning time on Wednesday before turning back to rain during the day on Wednesday,” Pope said.
Pope says central Arkansas could see as much as a quarter-inch to a half-inch of ice accumulation by Wednesday morning, which could lead to downed trees, power outages and dangerous driving conditions.
“It only takes a couple hundredths to maybe a tenth of an inch of ice to start to see travel issues, but when we really start to hit that quarter-inch mark, that’s when we really start to notice problems,” Pope said. “And then as we get closer to that half-inch, it just increases the frequency of those problems. So there’ll be more power outages, more travel issues across the area.”
Pope says the middle of the state is expecting to see the most ice accumulation, with more snowfall likely in northwest Arkansas. Significant thawing is expected Wednesday afternoon into Thursday when temperatures are expected to rise back into the 40s.
