Arkansas Winter Storm Database
Significant and Unusual Arkansas Winter Storms (1990 - 2010)
Overview
This is a series of ArcGIS maps documenting significant or unusual winter storms affecting Arkansas through the 1990-2010 time period. Each map has known accumulations from each winter storm or series of storms mentioned, using archived cooperative observer and National Weather Service data and reports.
Note, numerous significant events are documented, but not all events are represented.
-- 1992 --
January 18, 1992
Heavy snow fell across much of southern Arkansas, with several sites recording 6 inches of snow or more, and isolated areas measuring 8 inches or more in Nevada and Desha Counties.
-- 1993 --
February 14-16, 1993
Heavy snow fell in the north with 12 to 18 inches common across the northernmost part of Arkansas.
April 4-5, 1993
A late-season snow fell in far northwest Arkansas, with nearly six inches at Harrison. Snow was observed over much of the Ozarks, but no major accumulations were recorded.
October 29-30, 1993
An early-season snow storm brought measurable snowfall to the Little Rock metropolitan area and to much of northern Arkansas.
-- 1994 --
February 9-11, 1994
A severe ice storm occurred in much of the state...especially in southern and eastern Arkansas. There were several periods of freezing rain and sleet across the southeastern half of Arkansas. Arkansas Power & Light had most significant storm damage to power lines in its history up until then. Some areas were without power for a week or longer.
March 8-9, 1994
On March 8-9, 1994, snow fell in northern and much of central Arkansas. The snow over the northern counties was heavy, with over a foot in places near the Missouri border.
Over central Arkansas, snow, sleet and freezing rain made for very hazardous roads. Numerous power outages occurred in northern Arkansas due to the heavy snow. A number of buildings collapsed or sustained damage due to the weight of the snow.
In the picture: The Harrison (Boone County) cooperative observer's observation sheet from March 8, 1994, showing their 6-hourly snowfall measurements.
In the picture: A table of official 48-hour snowfall measurements from from March 7-9, 1994. Several locations across northern Arkansas measured between one to nearly two feet of snowfall through this event.
-- 1995 --
January 21-23, 1995
A narrow band of heavy snow fell in central and south central Arkansas. Western parts of Little Rock saw up to eight inches. The greatest accumulations of nearly one foot were observed over much of Saline County and the Saline/Pulaski County border.
-- 1996 --
January 1-3, 1996
Heavy snow fell across north central and northwestern Arkansas. Fayetteville, Harrison and many areas saw about 12 inches and a place near Eureka Springs got 20 inches. Drifts several feet deep were reported in some areas of Newton and Searcy counties.
-- 1997 --
February 12-15, 1997
An unexpected winter storm impacted the Natural State, with between six to ten inches of snow observed in portions of central Arkansas.
-- 1999 --
March 13-15, 1999
A late-season heavy and wet snow fell over northwest Arkansas, with the highest accumulations of 12-18 inches.
-- 2000 --
January 27-29, 2000
A major winter storm brought heavy snow to the state. It began in southern and western Arkansas on the morning of the 27th. Four to eight inches of snow fell in the northern half of the state, and along the southern border. In much of the south half, eight to 14 inches of snow was common, with some reports of 20 inches. There was damage to more than 600 chicken houses, and a hangar at the Benton Airport collapsed. Interstate 30 became impassable from Malvern to the southwest, and was closed for a number of hours. One person unfortunately died of hypothermia. This also marked the first measurable snowfall at Little Rock in nearly three years, and caught many people by surprise.
For more info on this event, check out the web story event page put together by NWS Little Rock.
December 12-13, 2000
Freezing Rain
A major statewide ice storm occurred, 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 significant widespread tree and power infrastructure damage, resulting in widespread power failures. About 300,000 homes and businesses lost electric power and many areas were without electricity for a week. This was likely the most damaging ice storm in Arkansas up to that date. Temperatures for most of this event were just below freezing...so many roadways did not ice up much and travel was possible...albeit slow and still hazardous.
For more info on this event, check out the web story event page put together by NWS Little Rock.
Freezing rain accumulated outside the NWS office in North Little Rock on December 13, 2000.
Local RAOB Data
In the animation: A loop of radiosonde data from 12Z 12/12/2000 (6 AM CST) to 12Z 12/13/2000 (6 AM CST) from the NWS Little Rock Forecast Office. From the data, we can see an environment that was more conducive for freezing rain was prevalent over central Arkansas. Note the presence of the warm layer aloft (above freezing air) in the low to mid levels, in contrast to the sounding profile from Springfield, MO.
In the animation: A loop of radiosonde data from 12Z 12/12/2000 (6 AM CST) to 12Z 12/13/2000 (6 AM CST) from the NWS Shreveport Forecast Office. From the data, we can see an environment that was more conducive for freezing rain was prevalent over northwestern Louisiana and into southwestern Arkansas. Note the presence of the deep warm layer aloft (above freezing air) in the low to mid levels, in contrast to the sounding profile from Springfield, MO.
Snow and Sleet
In addition to significant freezing rain and ice accumulation, snow and sleet accumulation was seen over much of the state. Snowfall was the predominant precipitation over far northern and northwestern Arkansas, while elsewhere, sleet mixed in with freezing rain.
Local RAOB Data
In the animation: A loop of radiosonde data from 12Z 12/12/2000 (6 AM CST) to 12Z 12/13/2000 (6 AM CST) from the NWS Springfield Forecast Office. From the data, we can see an environment that was more conducive for snowfall and sleet was prevalent further north across southern Missouri and northern Arkansas. Note the lack of any warm (above freezing) air in the low to mid levels, in contrast to the sounding profiles from Little Rock and Shreveport.
December 25-27, 2000
For the second time in two weeks, another major statewide ice storm occurred in late December 2000. 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.
For more info on this event, check out the web story event page put together by NWS Little Rock.
Local RAOB Data
In the animation: A loop of radiosonde data from 12Z 12/26/2000 (6 AM CST) to 00Z 12/27/2000 (6 PM CST) from the NWS Little Rock Forecast Office. From the data, we can see an environment that was more conducive for freezing rain was prevalent up into central Arkansas.
In the animation: A loop of radiosonde data from 00Z 12/25/2000 (6 PM CST) to 00Z 12/27/2000 (6 PM CST) from the NWS Shreveport Forecast Office. From the data, we can see an environment that was extremely conducive for freezing rain was prevalent over northwestern Louisiana and into southwestern Arkansas. Note the presence of the deep warm layer aloft (above freezing air) in the low to mid levels.
December 31, 2000
A quick heavy snow storm on New Year's Eve brought six to eight inches of snowfall, with the heaviest accumulations centered around the ARKLATEX region. Further into central Arkansas, amounts were much lighter, and only flurries were reported over north central and northeast Arkansas.
-- 2002 --
February 5-7, 2002
Snow and sleet fell over much of the state, with two to five inches common. Amounts of six to seven inches were reported across the higher elevations of Northern and Western Arkansas. Harrison reported eight inches.
-- 2003 --
February 5-7, 2003
Snow, heavy at times, fell over parts of north and west central Arkansas, with around three to six inches of accumulation.
February 9-11, 2003
The second winter storm in less than a week produced two to six inches of snow, primarily in the west and north.
February 24-27, 2003
Heavy snow developed across the central third of Arkansas on the 24th/25th, with four to eight inches common. Up to a foot of snow fell in some areas from just north of Mount Ida to just southeast of Perryville (west central into central Arkansas). Later on the 25th-26th, an ice storm hit the southeast half of the state with a quarter to half inch of glaze on exposed objects
-- 2004 --
February 14-16, 2004
Snowfall spread across central and southern sections of the state. The heaviest snow fell from southwest into central Arkansas, with 4-6 inches common. In the far southwest some spots had more than six inches of snow.
December 22-23, 2004
Snow fell in much of northern, western, and central Arkansas, with a general two to four inch accumulation. As much as four to six inches fell across the higher elevations of the west and north. Nine inches of snow was observed at Hardy (Sharp County).
-- 2008 --
March 3-4, 2008
On March 3-4, 2008, heavy snow fell in parts of northern and western Arkansas. The snow began on the 3rd, but intensified in the morning hours of the 4th.
By the morning of the 4th...9 inches had fallen at Danville (Yell County), and 12 inches had fallen at Dardanelle (Yell County). Calico Rock (Izard County) had recorded 13 inches of snow.
March 6-8, 2008
Heavy snow fell across much of Arkansas for the second time in less than one week. The snow continued into the 7th, with 10.5 inches at Subiaco, 10.0 inches at Evening Shade, and six inches at Pine Bluff and Monticello.
December 14-17, 2008
Sleet, snow and freezing rain plagued much of central Arkansas for several days. Accumulations of sleet and snow were several inches, and there were numerous traffic accidents.
-- 2009 --
January 26-28, 2009
Freezing rain and sleet began falling in northern and western Arkansas during the afternoon and early evening of January 26th. The precipitation became mainly freezing rain later on the night of the 26th. Ice accumulated rapidly in northern Arkansas on the 27th, when freezing rain fell nearly continuously. Late on the night of the 27th and early on the 28th, much of the precipitation turned over to light sleet and snow. Precipitation finally came to an end on the morning of the 28th. A historic ice storm was the result across the northern third of Arkansas. In many places, ice accruals reached 1 to 2 inches, and there were locally greater accruals at some of the higher elevations of the Ozark Mountains. Elsewhere across the northern half of the state, ice accruals in the ¼ to ½ inch range were common. Total damage from the ice storm was close to $1 billion.
There were three direct deaths associated with the ice storm. The police chief of Trumann (Poinsett County) was killed when a large tree limb fell on him while he was helping to clean up limbs that had been knocked down by the ice. A falling tree was also responsible for a death in Craighead County, and a hypothermia death occurred at Piggott in Clay County. More than a dozen indirect deaths occurred. These were due to vehicle accidents on icy roads, house fires which resulted from the use of candles and auxiliary heating sources in areas where power was out, and carbon monoxide poisoning which resulted from the improper use of backup generators. The storm knocked out electricity to more than 450,000 customers. At one electric cooperative serving northeast Arkansas, only 12 out of the cooperative’s 12,000 customers did not lose power. Power was restored to all homes and businesses within a month. However, restoration of service to irrigation systems, grain bins, hunting cabins, and yard lights took considerably longer. Altogether, more than 40,000 power poles had to be replaced after they snapped or toppled. In addition, more than 13,000 transformers had to be replaced, along with at least 2,000 miles of wire. To get the task accomplished, close to 10,000 utility workers were brought in from other areas, some from as far away as Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Florida. It was estimated that months would be needed to complete the rebuilding of the electrical transmission system and final clean-up activities. Telephone service was knocked out to many areas, and water and sewer service also failed in some areas.
To see additional info on this event, check out the significant event web story put together by NWS Little Rock.
In the picture: Power lines were iced down and roads were treacherous along US 67 south of Cave City (Sharp County).
In the picture: One to two inches of ice accumulated at Harrison (Boone County).
February 28 - March 1, 2009
A winter storm primarily affected northeast Arkansas, producing over a foot of snow near Blytheville. Snowfall totals ranged from just a few tenths in the Little Rock area to 12 inches at Wilson, with 18 inch snow drifts.
-- 2010 --
January 28-30, 2010
On January 28-30, 2010, a winter storm affected northern and central Arkansas. There was a period of freezing rain initially, with amounts as high as one half to three quarters of an inch in places. Numerous power outages were reported from Hot Springs to Pine Bluff and Stuttgart. There were at least 30,000 outages across the state.
The precipitation transitioned to sleet and snow, and became heavy in places. Snow amounts were as high as eight to 12 inches in much of north central and northeast Arkansas. This storm produced the highest daily snowfall at Harrison in 16 years.
In the picture: a map of ice accumulations in Arkansas from January 28-30, 2010.
February 7-9, 2010
Heavy snow (three to six inches and locally up to ten inches) accumulated in about the northern half of the state. At Little Rock, 7.2 inches of snow fell. It was the most snow there in one day since January 1988 (up to that date).
March 20-22, 2010
A late season snowstorm produced accumulations of 12 inches or more near Fayetteville, with six inches reported at Harrison. Some locations in Carroll, Benton, and Washington Counties saw at or near 20 inches of snow accumulation.
