Winter Storm — Hot Spring, Arkansas

2012-12-25 to 2012-12-26 · Hot Spring, Arkansas

Event narrative

Cooperative observers measured 7 inches of snow at Malvern and Bismarck, and 6 inches at DeGray Lake State Park.

Wider weather episode

Early on Christmas Day, a stationary front was located to the south of Arkansas. During the day, a low pressure center formed along the front, eventually tracking across southeast Arkansas on the evening of the 25th and on toward Middle Tennessee by midnight on the 26th.

During the first part of the 25th, a cold rain fell over most of Arkansas. Then, colder air began spilling into the state to the north and west of the low pressure center's track. Over the northwestern half of Arkansas, a transition from rain to freezing rain, sleet, and some snow occurred during the afternoon, with a changeover to mostly snow by evening. Over the southeastern half of the state, the changeover occurred during the evening, with mostly snow occurring by midnight. Snow began tapering off from the west after midnight, and most of the snow had exited the state by midday on the 26th.

In parts of central and western Arkansas, 0.1 to 0.2 inch of freezing rain accrued before the changeover to snow.

The heaviest band of snow fell from the Ouachita Mountains in west central Arkansas through the central part of the state and then on toward northeastern Arkansas. In this band, snowfall accumulations of 10 to 15 inches were common. The largest snowfall totals reported were 18 inches on Petit Jean Mountain (Conway Co.) and at Perryville (Perry Co.), 17.5 inches at Perry (Perry Co.), and 15 inches at Jessieville (Garland Co.) and Union Valley (Perry Co.). Thunderstorms accompanied the snow in many areas. Commerce and transportation were severely affected. Snowfall totals tapered off both to the northwest and southeast of the heaviest band of snow. Parts of northwest Arkansas received less than 1 inch of snow. Likewise, totals were less than 1 inch over a large part of southeast Arkansas.

Strong winds accompanied the winter storm. Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph were common, and gusts reached 35 to 45 mph in many areas. Near-blizzard conditions occurred in the northeast part of the County Warning Area.

The combination of ice, snow, and wind caused massive power outages. Branches, limbs, and entire trees fell over onto power lines. In the County Warning Area, there were around 200,000 power outages. About 70% of electric customers in Little Rock lost power. Most of the power outages were repaired within a week; cable TV repairs took several days longer.

Trees and limbs also fell onto cars and houses. A 60-year-old man was killed in Benton (Saline Co.), when a very large tree crashed into a house. A crane had to be brought in to lift the tree off the victim. In Little Rock, the Public Works Department estimated it could take until summer to collect all the fallen debris, which amounted to about 22,000 tons.

President Barack Obama declared a federal disaster for Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Lonoke, Perry, Pulaski, and Saline Counties.

Numerous snowfall records were broken:

New all-time calendar day snowfall records were set at Perry (Perry Co.) when 17.5 inches of snow broke the record of 10 inches set in 1944, Morrilton (Conway Co.) when 12.5 inches of snow broke the record of 9 inches set in 1944, and at Batesville Livestock Experiment Station (Independence Co.) when 11 inches of snow broke the record of 10 inches set in 2010. At Cabot 4SW, the snowfall of 10 inches tied the record of 10 inches set in 1988.

Monthly snowfall records were broken or tied at Perry (Perry Co.), Batesville Livestock Experiment Station (Independence Co.), Morrilton (Conway Co.), Mountain View (Stone Co.), Alum Fork (Saline Co.), Little Rock (Pulaski Co.), North Little Rock (Pulaski Co.), Cabot 4SW (Lonoke Co.), Gravelly 1ESE (Yell Co.), Pine Ridge (Montgomery Co.), Damascus 2NNE (Van Buren Co.), Evening Shade 1NNE (Sharp Co.), Greers Ferry Dam (Cleburne Co.), Little Rock Air Force Base (Pulaski Co.), Mena (Polk Co.), Parks (Scott Co.), Crystal Valley (Pulaski Co.), Langley (Pike Co.), Batesville Lock and Dam (Independence Co.), Big Fork 1SSE (Polk Co.), Glenwood (Pike Co.), Bonnerdale 4SSW (Hot Spring Co.), Ratcliff (Logan Co.), Augusta 2NW (Woodruff Co.), Clinton 6SE (Van Buren Co.), and Keo (Lonoke Co.).

The 10.3 inches of snow that fell at Little Rock made it the snowiest Christmas on record. It also made it one of the top ten calendar snowfalls ever recorded, as well as one of the top ten 24-hour snowfall amounts ever recorded.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 419045. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.