PHOTO: A wintry scene in downtown Arkadelphia, where most businesses remained closed after a winter storm dumped snow over the region. | arkadelphian.com photo/Joel Phelps
This post includes a weekend update, as well as a correction to snowfall accumulation as reported by the National Weather Service.
By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com
UPDATE: Saturday morning, many local mom-and-pop shops were resuming their regular business hours as city, county and state crews continued clearing streets and highways. Nighttime lows plunged into the teens, hardening snow accumulations to ice.
Saturday will warm to above-freezing temperatures. The Arkadelphia Street Department was busy Saturday morning plowing and salting secondary city streets. Main thoroughfares remained clear. “If the temps will get up to the 40s we should see a lot of clearing today,” said Police Chief Jason “Shorty” Jackson, who is acting city manager during Gary Brinkley’s vacation.
Still, those who do venture out should use caution, urged the National Weather Service in Little Rock. Drivers should maintain slower speeds and not use cruise control, and it’s imperative to keep extra distance between vehicles, staying especially far from snow plows.
Expect patchy freezing fog Saturday afternoon and nighttime lows near 22 in the Arkadelphia area. Freezing fog will form again Sunday, and the mercury will warm to the low 40s.
ORIGINAL POST: Clark County woke Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, to a blanket of white as a winter storm dumped a wintry mix measuring about 4 inches of snow and sleet late Thursday and into Friday morning. The wintry precipitation came mostly to a halt by mid-morning Friday as the system marched eastward and turned mostly to rain.
The Arkadelphia area had been forecast to receive up to a foot of the white stuff, however the winter storm shifted north, dumping more snow over the Hot Springs area, Ouachita Mountains and the Arkansas River Valley. In far South Arkansas — where the wintry precipitation was a mix of rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow — thousands were left without power, according to magnoliareporter.com.
Local law enforcement urged residents to stay off streets and highways. Main roadways were slushy, but secondary streets and highways were packed with snow. The city’s street department continued plowing streets throughout the day. Traffic in Arkadelphia was scant early Friday morning, with the exception of a few travelers on the city’s main thoroughfares. Interstate 30 in Clark County was clear, with few vehicles seen using the highway. Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson reported a total of 21 car accidents on local roads and highways, none of them causing injury.
With the exception of the town’s major retailers, most local shops were shuttered Friday. Gas stations and auto parts stores remained open. Parking lots were mostly empty; fewer than 2 dozen vehicles were seen in Walmart’s parking lot at 9 a.m., with even less at Brookshire’s. Clerks shoveled snow from entrances, and some UTVs equipped with plows were clearing parking lots at banks and other businesses.
The storm shut government offices, including sanitation services, in Arkadelphia and Clark County. Emergency services remained in operation. Both of the city’s universities, and local school districts, were shut.
Some residents lost power in the pre-dawn hours. South Central Arkansas Electric Cooperative was reporting about 1,000 outages in Clark County on Friday morning, most of them south of Gum Springs.
The mercury is expected to tap out Friday just above the freezing mark, at 39 degrees, but the low is forecast to dip well below freezing tonight, with a low around 18 degrees. This will likely make roadways more hazardous as any melting that occurs Friday will turn to ice.
The National Weather Service in Little Rock continued a Winter Storm Warning for much of the state Friday until 6 p.m. for most of Arkansas, with additional slow and sleet accumulations between 1-2 inches and ice accumulations of around 1/10 of an inch over southern Arkansas.
Persons should consider delaying all travel, and use extreme caution if travel is absolutely necessary.
If you must travel, keep an extra flashlight, food and water in your vehicle in case of an emergency. The latest road conditions can be obtained by calling 511 or checking the iDriveArkansas app.
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