Heavy Snow in Arkansas, March 13 to 14, 1999

Summary of winter weather on March 13-14 1999:A powerful upper level storm system moved eastward across southern Oklahoma and southern Arkansas on March 13 and 14. After heavy rains in advance of the system on the 12th, a band of precipitation established itself across the northwest corner of Arkansas on the afternoon of the 13th and then cold air moved in, changing the rain to snow. The band of heavy snow shifted east of the area shortly after sunrise. Visible satellite photos early on March 14 showed the southern extent of significant snow cover to be along the Boston Mountains.The heavy wet snow weighed down and broke many tree limbs. Some of these tree limbs fell into power lines that caused scattered interruptions in electrical service. At the peak of the winter storm, 8,000 electric customers were without power across northwest Arkansas due to broken power lines caused by weighted-down trees breaking. Newspaper reports indicated that the area near Beaver Lake was the hardest-hit area, where whole trees had fallen and had to be cleared off of roadways. Numerous traffic accidents also resulted on Saturday afternoon.Some snowfall totals include: Eureka Springs...16", Lowell...11", Bentonville...10+", Huntsville...10+", Fayetteville...8", and Siloam Springs...8".