Officials: Stay off roads if possible
Wind chills in the teens expected tonight, Friday
It is too dangerous to be out and about.
That is the message Arkansas State Police Troop D and the National Weather Service in Memphis conveyed this morning during interviews with the
Times-Herald regarding the current weather situation as the forecast continues to call for winter precipitation throughout the day and into the evening.
Freezing rain and sleet began falling across the area Wednesday night and continued into today, creating hazardous travel conditions.
Woodruff Electric and Entergy were each reporting some outages this morning, but the outages were not widespread as of press time.
The freezing rain and sleet are expected to continue falling throughout the day today, with forecasters expecting more sleet than freezing rain in this area.
“Right now, a lot of the reports we’ve been receiving out of Forrest City have been more along the lines of sleet,” said meteorologist Corey Chaskelson with the NWS in Memphis. “You could see up to two inches total of sleet through this evening.
“The short-term forecast shows you will see a continuation of this precipitation, which will be moderate at times, through the early afternoon and then see the precipitation amounts start to taper down a bit and come to an end this evening,” said Chaskelson.
The wind will continue to pose problems for the area. “You’re looking at north winds about 15 to 20 miles per hour with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. The wind chills across your area will be in the low teens tonight,” he said.
Although the precipitation is expected to move out of the area tonight, problems are expected to continue throughout the remainder of the week as temperatures are expected to remain cold. “You’re looking at the teens for overnight lows for the next couple of nights,” Chaskelson said.
“This may stick around for a couple of days. It looks like it may warm up to about 33 degrees on Saturday, and then Sunday to about 41 degrees,” said Chaskelson. “So, if it doesn’t melt right away, by Sunday, things will improve enough to where the warmer temperatures will help a bit.
“Regardless of where you are in the Mid-South, especially along and west of the Mississippi River, it’s best to stay home until the conditions improve. It’s too dangerous to be out and about,” Chaskelson said.
A dispatcher at ASP Troop D said troopers were out on the roadways and had worked “multiple accidents” across the troop.
“We encourage everyone to stay off the roads,” he said. “If you don’t have to be out there, I wouldn’t.”
The Forrest City Public Works Department is rotating eight-hour shifts, bringing employees in and out to allow them time to rest a few hours before having to report back to duty.
“We’re just rolling with the punches, so to speak,” said FCPW Director Darin Flenoy. “We came on duty about midnight and that crew worked until about 8 this morning. We have another crew working from 8 to 3, and then the first crew will come back in and work from 3 to 11. Those shifts will continue until the storm has passed and the roadways are cleared. That’s basically the game plan until all of this breaks.”
Flenoy said the city streets this morning were mostly slush, but that will freeze back this evening when fewer motorists are on the roads.
“We’re blading the streets as much as possible, then we will come back with the brine solution,” said Flenoy. “The roads are slick right now, but they’re not that bad. I have seen worse. While they’re slushy we can work with them, but once it freezes overnight, then that’s when all the problems will happen. We’re trying to blade as much as we can through tonight.”
Cannon Callicott, District 1 Engineer with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, also reported roads throughout the district as being slushy this morning.
“Overall, traffic is moving pretty decently,” he said. “We’ve had a few minor accidents on Interstate 40 across the district, but they’re not in too bad of shape for what we were expecting. If we get a hard freeze tonight, it may be a little different. If we can keep it slushy, we may be alright. We’re continuing to plow and apply salt.”
ARDOT is also operating around the clock. “We plan on running 24-hour shifts through the end of the week, if not through the weekend,” said Callicott.
Woodruff Electric reported fewer than 1,000 co-op members in its service area without power this morning, saying a large majority of those are due to a fault on a transmission line affecting substations in the southern portion of the system in Phillips County.
“Phillips County has 918 of the 987 without power,” said Anna Howton, spokesperson for Woodruff. “Crews are working diligently to restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”
Howton said out-of-state crews are on standby should they be needed to help restore service in this area.
The Entergy Arkansas outage map was not showing any outages in St. Francis County as of press time, but like Woodruff, officials are continuing to keep an eye on the weather and hope for the best.
The effects of freezing rain and ice on electrical lines and tree limbs is based on the amount that accumulates on the lines.
According to Entergy, oneeighth inch of freezing rain coating tree limbs and lines can begin to cause outages by breaking limbs hanging over power lines. At one-quarter inch of freezing rain accumulation, the problem becomes worse. Younger evergreen trees will start to become heavy and lean into the distribution lines, causing more outages. One-half inch accumulation of ice can add 500 pounds to power lines or tree limbs, which can snap and fall onto people and property.
St. Francis County Office of Emergency Services Coordinator Zakk Jumper said there were no major problems reported throughout the county or in Forrest City overnight, but also cautions the roadways will become worse this evening when they begin to refreeze.
“The roads are getting pretty slick with the more traffic that gets out there, and tonight that will refreeze, so it could be an issue,” Jumper said. “But, so far, everything looks pretty good.”
Students in the Forrest City and Palestine-Wheatley school districts were out of school today as classes transitioned to the online platforms.
PWSD Superintendent Jon Estes said this morning that the district would remain closed on Friday, with today and tomorrow considered AMI days for students.
The Forrest City School District had not announced its plan for Friday as of press time.
Local government offices were also closed today because of the weather.
“We encourage everyone to stay off the roads. If you don’t have to be out there, I wouldn’t.”
– ASP Troop D