Ice Storm — Logan, Arkansas

2009-01-26 to 2009-01-28 · Logan, Arkansas

Event narrative

One-half inch of ice was reported at Mount Magazine State Park by 6:00 AM on the 27th. An accident occurred on Arkansas Highway 22 between Midway and New Blaine. The vehicle hit an icy patch of road surface and skidded into a tree.

Wider weather episode

Freezing rain and sleet moved into northern and western Arkansas during the afternoon and early evening on the 26th, then spread rapidly eastward. By later on the night of the 26th, most of the precipitation was falling in the form of freezing rain. During the day of the 27th, almost continuous freezing rain fell across the north, with ice accumulating rapidly. Over central parts of the state, temperatures warmed just enough to change most of the precipitation to rain, while rain fell in the south. Freezing rain continued in the north through the evening of the 27th, before turning over to light sleet and snow during the late night hours of the 27th and early on the 28th. Through central Arkansas and part of southern Arkansas, rain changed to freezing rain and sleet, then to a little snow. In the southeast corner of the state, most of the precipitation fell as rain.

The end result was a devastating, historic ice storm across northern Arkansas. Across the northern two rows of counties, ice accumulations were mainly in the 1 to 2 inch range, with a few greater totals at the highest elevations. Elsewhere in northern Arkansas, ice totals in the 1/2 to 1 inch range were more common, with 1/4 to 1/2 inch amounts in west central parts of Arkansas. The snow at the end of the winter weather episode was mainly 1/2 to 1 inch in the north, although there were some totals near 2 inches in counties close to the Missouri border. In the central part of the state, snow totals ranged from a trace to a few tenths of an inch.

The ice storm knocked out electricity to more 300,000 electric customers. More than 10,000 power poles were broken or toppled, and hundreds of miles of power lines fell to the ground. Thousands of transformers had to be replaced. Telephone service was knocked out to many areas, and some places suffered a lack of water and sewer service.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 143448. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.