Extreme Cold/Wind Chill — Chicot, Arkansas

2026-01-26 · Chicot, Arkansas

Event narrative

Wind chills across the county fell as low as -15 degrees during the early morning of January 26th.

Wider weather episode

A historically damaging ice and sleet storm occurred across portions of southeastern Arkansas and the surrounding region. Ice accumulations in Ashley and Chicot counties were up to 0.25 inches, and sleet accumulations up to 7 inches were measured in Ashley County. In these areas, the weight of the accumulation resulted in the collapse of several sheds, carports, gas station awnings and the roofs of some buildings. Sleet remained on the ground across much of Ashley and Chicot counties for an entire week, with some of the deeper sleet accumulations from Ashley County through Bolivar County persisting through at least Sunday, February 8th. Travel impacts persisted through Friday, January 30th in some areas.

Bitter cold conditions followed the storm. Wind chills were as low as 4 degrees at Crossett. Note: At several area weather stations, the lowest wind chill was unavailable because the anemometer was frozen and unable to record wind speed data.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1315553. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.