Heavy Snow — Stone, Arkansas

2021-02-17 to 2021-02-18 · Stone, Arkansas

Event narrative

A COOP observer measured 4.5 inches of snow at 35.86N, -92.11W.

Wider weather episode

Before you blinked, along came system number two. Snow spread across the north/west from the late evening of the 16th into the predawn hours of the 17th. For the remainder of the 17th, central/southern Arkansas got in on the action, and it went nuts from Little Rock (Pulaski County) southward.

Incredibly, about fifteen inches of snow was unleashed near Sheridan (Grant County), with thirteen inches at Malvern (Hot Spring County) and Sulphur Springs (Jefferson County), and about a foot at Gurdon (Clark County), Hope (Hempstead County), and Prescott (Nevada County). Through social media, quite a few pictures were posted of tape measures and rulers penetrating through at least twenty inches of snow (the result of two storms) in yards across the south.

At 230 pm CST...This is not good. Interstate 40 (westbound) is backed up at Exit 202/Biscoe (Prairie Co), and vehicles are not moving at all. This is according to a @myARDOT traffic camera.#arwx pic.twitter.com/L2dJKvQIkd

' NWS Little Rock (@NWSLittleRock) February 17, 2021

There was way too much snow along Interstate 40 near Biscoe (Prairie County). Multiple accidents led to a line of traffic miles long in the westbound lanes that sat for sixteen hours. People were forced to spend the night on the road.

This time around, Little Rock (Pulaski County) was buried with 11.8 inches of snow. At least forty flights into the airport were cancelled on the 17th, and the facility closed during the evening.

Historically, the 17th was the second snowiest day on record at Little Rock (Pulaski County) going back to the late 1800s (in the top spot was 12.0 inches on March 6, 1875). The February tally of 20.3 inches was more than any other month (topping 20.0 inches in January, 1918), and made 2020 the third snowiest year (a foot less than the 32.6 inch record in 1960). The snow depth on the morning of the 18th was 15 inches, which was tied for first place in the record book (with January 21, 1918).

There was enough water to worry about the weight of the snow stressing the roofs of some structures. On the 18th, part of the roof of a volunteer fire department caved in just northeast of Rison (Cleveland County). At Crossett (Ashley County), a bowling alley roof collapsed, and roofs were compromised at a packaging plant and a church. Some of this was attributed to a lot of sleet. Frozen pipes are a common concern in winter, and this became a huge problem in Mayflower (Faulkner County). Supply lines burst, and the city ran out of water. As a safeguard, many folks in central Arkansas were asked to conserve water as pipes thawed out and were subject to pressure breaks. Residents in cities such as Benton (Saline County), Hot Springs (Garland County), and Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) were urged to cut down on water usage due to a critically low supply. During the evening of the 18th, accidents along Interstate 30 led to tie ups between Benton (Saline County) and Malvern (Hot Spring County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 946517. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.