Winter Storm — Cleburne, Arkansas

2014-03-02 to 2014-03-03 · Cleburne, Arkansas

Wider weather episode

A strong Arctic cold front moved through Arkansas on the 2nd and the morning hours of the 3rd. Freezing rain and sleet began to fall in northern Arkansas before dawn on the 2nd, while rain fell over the rest of the state. As colder air made its way farther into the state, rain changed to freezing rain and sleet over most of the northern half of the state on the afternoon of the 2nd, over the middle of the state from late afternoon through early evening, and over parts of southern Arkansas after midnight on the 3rd. Meanwhile, much of the sleet changed over to snow in northern Arkansas on the night of the 2nd, while some snow flurries also made it into the central part of the state. All significant precipitation moved east of the area on the morning of the 3rd.

Thunder accompanied the wintry precipitation in many areas, even with temperatures in the teens and 20s.

Parts of eastern Arkansas experienced an ice storm with freezing rain totals of 0.25 to more than 0.50 inch. Several thousand power outages resulted. Elsewhere, amounts generally ranged from a few hundredths of an inch in southern Arkansas to around 0.25 inch in parts of the Arkansas River Valley and central Arkansas.

Sleet piled up to unusually large amounts, with 1 to 2 inches common in central Arkansas and 2 to 4 inches in the northern part of the state. Sleet drifts of 3 to 4 feet occurred in some places. Some of the northern counties recorded 1 to 3 inches of snow on top of the sleet.

The freezing rain and sleet caused an enormous traffic back-up on Interstate 40 all the way from near DeValls Bluff to West Memphis, a distance of about 80 miles.

There was one indirect fatality and two indirect injuries. At 2:15 PM on the 2nd, a 46- year-old man was killed and two other people were injured when two vehicles collided on Arkansas 25 north of Arkansas 5 in Cleburne County. It was sleeting and the road was icy at the time, according to a state police report.

The Arctic air brought record low temperatures for the month of March to Newport (Jackson Co.), Marshall (Searcy Co.), Batesville Lock and Dam (Independence Co.), Beedeville 4NE (Jackson Co.), North Little Rock (Pulaski Co.), and the Stuttgart Airport (Prairie Co.). These temperatures occurred on the 3rd or 4th, depending on the station location.

Furthermore, 29 stations set records for the coldest high temperatures ever recorded in the month of March. These included Mena (Polk Co.), Hot Springs National Park (Garland Co.), Batesville Livestock Experiment Station (Independence Co.), Booneville 3SE (Logan Co.), Mount Ida (Montgomery Co.), Rohwer 2NNE (Desha Co.), Star City (Lincoln Co.), Des Arc (Prairie Co.), Malvern (Hot Spring Co.), Newport (Jackson Co.), North Little Rock (Pulaski Co.), Sheridan (Grant Co.), Beedeville 4NE (Jackson Co.), Clarksville (Johnson Co.), Conway (Faulkner Co.), Evening Shade 1NNE (Sharp Co.), Fordyce (Dallas Co.), Little Rock Air Force Base (Pulaski Co.), Subiaco (Logan Co.), Batesville Lock and Dam (Independence Co.), Mammoth Spring (Fulton Co.), Searcy (White Co.), Batesville Airport (Independence Co.), Little Rock (Pulaski Co.), Murfreesboro 1W (Pike Co.), Camden (Ouachita Co.), Russellville (Pope Co.), Stuttgart Airport (Prairie Co.), and Hot Springs Airport (Garland Co.). All of these records occurred on the 3rd or 4th, depending on the station location.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 492760. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.