From the Arkansas Advocate:
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency Thursday as Arkansas braces for a severe winter storm that will bring heavy snow, ice and near-zero temperatures statewide.
The winter storm is set to begin rolling into Arkansas Friday afternoon, part of a system that’s expected to affect a dozen states and roughly 200 million people, private forecasting service AccuWeather says.
Dave Parker, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Transportation, warned that the system set to hit the state is unlike winter storms that typically blow through the region and will make it “a very difficult battle” to clear roads. The only thing going in the state’s favor, he said, was that the storm is set to hit over a weekend.
Parker said any winter precipitation likely won’t thaw out until Wednesday, and urged people to stay home if they could.
“We’ve got everything working against us,” he said. “We’ve got freezing rain, ice, snow, sleet, bitter cold temperatures, a long storm — meaning several days.”
What parts of the state will be affected?
South Arkansas is likely to get some combination of freezing rain and sleet, according to the National Weather Service’s North Little Rock office, while the northern region is likely to experience heavy snowfall. The storm is set to begin rolling in Friday evening as of Thursday afternoon.
Weather service forecasts are still unsure where snow will transition to sleet and freezing rain, though it notes it will likely be somewhere in central or south Arkansas. Forecasts as of Thursday afternoon project between a half an inch to three-quarters of an inch of ice in areas south of Little Rock. Areas north of Russellville are forecasted to receive between eight to 12 inches of snow, though higher amounts are possible.
The service said uncertainty remains about where snowfall would transition into sleet and freezing rain.
“Dangerously cold temperatures” are expected through Tuesday morning, according to the North Little Rock office. Wind chills could reach 10 degrees below zero, it said, with colder temperatures possible further north.
The North Little Rock office has been posting detailed breakdowns of its latest forecasts statewide on its X account. Click here to see its Thursday morning post.
What is the state doing to prepare?
Sanders’ emergency declaration authorizes $250,000 for disaster response, and allows “emergency response vehicles and commercial carriers delivering essential supplies and services” to bypass state-run weight stations until Feb. 23.
Schools around the state have canceled Friday’s after-school and weekend events ahead of the storm. They’re closely monitoring the forecast before making a decision about classes Friday.
What should I do to prepare?
State transportation officials say roads will remain hazardous into next week. In extreme cold, the National Weather Service recommends avoiding being outside, bringing pets inside, dripping faucets and ensuring vehicles have at least half a tank of gas.
Where can I find trustworthy information about forecasted weather?
The National Weather Service offices in North Little Rock, Memphis, Shreveport or Tulsa, depending on where you live. Arkansans can find the most up-to-date forecasts, as well as information about different scenarios forecasters are seeing in their weather models on their websites. However, the National Weather Service in North Little Rock has also been posting detailed breakdowns of the latest forecasts for the entire state on its X account.
Where can I find information about road conditions?
The Arkansas Department of Transportation’s mobile app and website, iDrive Arkansas, has a winter driving conditions map layer. It will have the most current information about road conditions on state highways and interstates, but it doesn’t have condition information for local and county roads.
Will I lose power?
There is no guarantee, but ice storms pose greater threats to power infrastructure compared to snow storms because the ice can down trees and weigh down power lines.
Entergy Arkansas is preparing for outages and staging 3,500 linemen to respond to outages due to the storm, with the focus being on the southern half of the state where ice is projected to be a greater threat, spokesperson Lamor Williams said.
However, if power does go out, he said he could not give an estimate for how long people should prepare to be without power.
“Our goal is to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” Williams said. “So it could be a few days, it could be more than a few days, but I don’t know that there’s a way to really say how long you should be prepared for.”
Outages affecting emergency services and “large blocks of customers” will be addressed first before more isolated outages, he said.
Entergy customers with questions can go to the utility’s mobile app or website, he said.
What should I do if I need to drive?
Arkansas transportation crews are working to treat all of the major roads before the storm system rolls in. Parker said single-digit temperatures will make it harder to treat and clear roads, making it difficult to estimate when roads will be clear again.
If you can’t stay home, Parker said you should give yourself significantly more time to get to your destination than you normally would. He said preparing to be in your car for long periods of time is paramount in case you get stuck. Click here for the list of things the National Weather Service recommends you keep in your car during severe winter weather.
Where can I find warming stations?
Click below to find information about warming shelters in each city.
