Winter Storm in Arkansas, January 27 to 28, 2000

A major Winter Storm brought mostly heavy snow to Arkansas on January 27th and early on the 28th. Heavy snow began in southern and western sections of the state during the morning of the 27th, and gradually spread north and east. By the time the storm was over, 4 to 8 inches of snow had accumulated in about the northern half of the state and along the southern border. In much of the southern half of the state, 8 to 14 inches of snow was common with isolated reports of 20 inches. It was the most widespead, heavy snow to affect Arkansas since 1988. Due to the snow, more than 600 chicken houses were damaged or destroyed, mostly in the southwest part of the state. Each house held up to 20,000 chickens, with the vast majority of chickens killed when the houses collapsed or because of hypothermia. Due to the loss of poultry, about two dozen counties were declared federal agricultural disaster areas. A hangar at the Benton Airport (Saline County) also collapsed. During the height of the storm, Interstate 30 became impassible from Malvern (Hot Spring County) to areas farther southwest, and was closed for a number of hours. The National Guard was called out to rescue stranded motorists, with a number of shelters opened for motorists and for the homeless. On the 29th, a State of Emergency was declared, with only necessary travel advised. There was one known fatality related to the storm. A worker at a fast-food restaurant in Little Rock died of hypothermia on his way home. He was found in a local schoolyard near his destination.