NOUS44 KLZK 290228
PNSLIT
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
...HISTORIC ICE STORMS IN ARKANSAS...
WINTER STORMS...STORM SYSTEMS THAT PRODUCE MOSTLY SNOW...SLEET...OR
FREEZING RAIN...ARE NOT AS COMMON IN ARKANSAS AS IN MANY AREAS OF THE
NORTHERN OR EASTERN U.S. IN MOST OF ARKANSAS...NORMAL SNOWFALL FOR AN
ENTIRE WINTER SEASON IS LESS THAN 10 INCHES. MOST OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS HAS
A NORMAL ANNUAL SNOWFALL UNDER 5 INCHES.
HOWEVER...WINTER STORMS DO OCCUR IN ARKANSAS OCCASIONALLY AND LARGE AMOUNTS
OF SNOW OR ICE CAN ACCUMULATE IN THE STATE. THE HILLY AREAS OF NORTHWESTERN
ARKANSAS GET HIT WITH HEAVY SNOW OR ICE MUCH MORE OFTEN THAN OTHER AREAS OF
THE STATE...BUT ALL AREAS OF ARKANSAS HAVE EXPERIENCED A SNOWFALL OF 10
INCHES OR MORE AND ALL AREAS HAVE HAD DAMAGING ICE ACCUMULATIONS.
BELOW ARE LISTED SOME OF THE MORE SIGNIFICANT ICE STORMS THAT HAVE AFFECTED
ARKANSAS...
NOVEMBER 27 1839...A SEVERE ICE STORM AT LITTLE ROCK. FREEZING RAIN
APPARENTLY FELL WITH A TEMPERATURE OF 8 DEGREES.
DECEMBER 18-20 1897...A GENERAL SLEET STORM OCCURRED IN THE STATE
WITH HEAVY DAMAGE...ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH.
MARCH 22 1898...ICE STORM IN NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS AFTER TEMPERATURES
IN THE 80S THE PREVIOUS DAY.
DECEMBER 10-14 1932...FIVE DAY PERIOD OF ICE MOSTLY IN THE EAST AND
SOUTH...SNOW IN THE NORTHWEST. THIS MAY BE THE LAST ICE STORM IN
THE STATE AS WIDESPREAD AND DAMAGING AS THE ICE STORMS OF DECEMBER
2000.
JANUARY 4 1950...ICE STORM ENVELOPS NORTHERN ARKANSAS AS AN ARCTIC
COLD FRONT DROPS TEMPERATURES FROM THE 60S INTO THE 20S.
FEBRUARY 1 1950...SEVERE ICE STORM ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS.
JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 1 1951...ONE OF THE WORST AND MOST WIDESPREAD ICE
STORMS EVER THROUGH THE CENTRAL U.S. NORTHERN ARKANSAS COVERED
WITH HEAVY ICE...UP TO 7 INCHES OF SNOW IN THE SOUTH.
FEBRUARY 13-15 1951...THREE DAY LONG ICE STORM ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS
ABOUT TWO WEEKS AFTER THE PREVIOUS ICE STORM. THESE STORMS HOWEVER
MAINLY AFFECTED ONLY THE NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE.
JANUARY 27 1957...SIGNIFICANT ICE STORM IN NORTHEASTERN ARKANSAS.
MARCH 15 1960...ICE STORM IN NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS.
JANUARY 2 1974...ICE STORM ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS...LIGHT SNOW IN THE
NORTH.
JANUARY 1 1979...STATEWIDE ICE STORM WITH THE MOST ICE IN THE NORTHWEST.
TRAVEL WAS VERY DIFFICULT AND THERE WERE MANY POWER OUTAGES...BUT
THE DAMAGE DID NOT COMPARE TO THE ICE STORMS OF DECEMBER, 2000.
JANUARY 6-7 1979...ANOTHER STATEWIDE ICE STORM...THE SECOND IN LESS THAN A
WEEK. THIS TIME THE MOST ICE WAS IN THE SOUTHEAST. AMOUNTS AND DAMAGE
STILL PALED IN COMPARISON TO THE DECEMBER 2000 STORMS.
DECEMBER 21 1983...MAJOR ICE STORM WITH UP TO 2 INCHES OF FREEZING RAIN
IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS...HEAVY DAMAGE TO THE LUMBER INDUSTRY.
DAMAGE WAS MUCH MORE EXTENSIVE...BUT IT WAS CONFINED MAINLY TO THE SOUTHERN
ONE HALF OF THE STATE.
MARCH 4 1989...ICE IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS DAMAGED MANY CHICKEN
HOUSES. MOST OF THE DAMAGE AND LOST POWER WAS IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF
THE STATE.
DECEMBER 22 1990...COMBINATION OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET ALONG WITH SOME
SNOW LEFT A HEAVY ICE LAYER IN MANY AREAS THAT LASTED THROUGH
CHRISTMAS. THIS ICE STORM MOST AFFECTED AREAS ROUGHLY ALONG INTERSTATE 30
FROM ARKADELPHIA THROUGH LITTLE ROCK THEN UP THE U.S. 67 CORRIDOR TOWARD
WHITE COUNTY.
FEBRUARY 9-11 1994...SEVERE ICE STORM IN MUCH OF STATE...ESPECIALLY IN
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ARKANSAS. THERE WERE SEVERAL PERIODS OF FREEZING
RAIN AND SLEET ACROSS THE SOUTHEASTERN HALF OF ARKANSAS. AP&L HAD MOST
SIGNIFICANT STORM DAMAGE TO POWER LINES IN ITS HISTORY UP UNTIL THEN.
SOME AREAS WERE WITHOUT POWER FOR A WEEK OR LONGER.
JANUARY 1 1999...FREEZING RAIN CONTINUED FOR A NUMBER OF HOURS ACROSS CENTRAL
AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS. MANY POWER OUTAGES OCCURRED IN THE LITTLE ROCK AREA
AND THERE WAS SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE IN NORTHERN ARKANSAS. THIS STORM WAS
CONFINED MAINLY TO THE NORTHERN ONE HALF OF THE STATE. A WEAKER ICE STORM
OCCURRED NINE DAYS EARLIER...MOSTLY ON DECEMBER 23 1998 BUT THAT ONE DID
NOT CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. ANOTHER MINOR FREEZING RAIN EVENT
OCCURRED MOSTLY IN NORTHERN ARKANSAS A WEEK LATER...ON JANUARY
7-8 1999.
DECEMBER 12-13 2000...STATEWIDE MAJOR ICE STORM WITH OVER ONE INCH OF ICE
ACCUMULATION IN MOST AREAS OF THE STATE. THE LITTLE ROCK
METROPOLITAN AREA AND PINE BLUFF WERE HARDEST HIT WITH TREE
DAMAGE AND POWER FAILURES. ABOUT 300,000 HOMES AND
BUSINESSES LOST ELECTRIC POWER AND MANY AREAS WERE WITHOUT
ELECTRICITY FOR A WEEK. LIKELY THE MOST DAMAGING ICE STORM IN
ARKANSAS UP TO THAT TIME. TEMPERATURES FOR MOST OF THIS EVENT
WERE JUST BELOW FREEZING...SO MANY ROADWAYS DID NOT ICE UP MUCH
AND TRAVEL WAS POSSIBLE...ALTHOUGH SLOW.
DECEMBER 25-27 2000...A SECOND MAJOR STATEWIDE ICE STORM IN TWO WEEKS.
MOST OF THE STATE AGAIN GOT AT LEAST ONE INCH OF ICE ACCUMULATION.
MANY AREAS WERE WELL BELOW FREEZING WHEN THE FREEZING
PRECIPITATION STARTED AND ROADWAYS ICED UP SOLIDLY. TRAVEL
WAS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT THE NIGHT OF THE 25TH AND FOR MOST OF
THE 26TH UNTIL TEMPERATURES ROSE CLOSER TO THE FREEZING MARK.
SOUTHERN AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS WERE THE HARDEST HIT WITH
POWER FAILURES. EL DORADO AND HOT SPRINGS WERE ESPECIALLY HARD
HIT THIS TIME WITH POWER FAILURES AND THE LITTLE ROCK
METROPOLITAN AREA HAD ABOUT AS MANY POWER FAILURES AS THE ICE
STORM TWO WEEKS EARLIER. THE TOTAL NUMBER OF POWER FAILURES
STATEWIDE WAS ABOUT EQUAL TO THE ICE STORM TWO WEEKS EARLIER.
JANUARY 26-28 2009...A MASSIVE ICE STORM AFFECTED ROUGHLY THE NORTHERN
TWO TO THREE ROWS OF COUNTIES /MUCH OF THE OZARK MOUNTAINS/. ONE TO
TWO INCH ICE ACCUMULATIONS WERE COMMON...FOLLOWED BY AN INCH OR TWO
OF SNOW. AT THE HEIGHT OF THE EVENT...TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE MID
20S TO LOWER 30S...AND THUNDER WAS REPORTED AT TIMES. MORE THAN
30,000 UTILITY POLES WERE DOWNED OR SNAPPED...AND OVER 400,000 HOMES
LOST POWER. AT SOME LOCATIONS...POWER WAS OUT FOR AT LEAST A MONTH.
$$
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