Winter Weather in Arkansas, January 5, 2014

A cold front moved across Arkansas on the 5th. Rain occurred in the warmer air ahead of the front. Behind the front, however, temperatures dropped sharply, changing the rain over to a brief period of freezing rain and sleet, and then over to snow. Some snow accumulations occurred in northern Arkansas, but were generally only in the 1 to 2 inch range. Bitterly cold Arctic air spilled into Arkansas on the night of the 5th and the morning of the 6th. Wind Chill Warnings, which are needed only rarely in Arkansas, were issued for north central sections, with Wind Chill Advisories over the remainder of the Little Rock County Warning Area. Unusually cold temperatures continued through the morning of the 7th.

On the morning of the 6th, low temperatures dropped below zero at a couple of spots in northern Arkansas and ranged up to the mid teens in southern Arkansas. The lowest temperatures reported were -4 at Lead Hill (Boone Co.), -2 at Harrison (Boone Co.), -1 at Mountain Home (Baxter Co.), and 1 at Marshall (Searcy Co.), Hardy (Sharp Co.), and Devils Knob (Johnson Co.). Wind chill values were generally in the -10 to -20 range across northern Arkansas and ranged up to 0 to 5 in the south. The coldest wind chill measured at an hourly reporting station was -20 at Harrison.

On the morning of the 7th, low temperatures again dropped below zero at a few spots in northern Arkansas. Elsewhere, most lows were in the single numbers, except for a few lows in the range of 10 to 13 degrees in southern Arkansas. The lowest temperatures reported were -4 at Lead Hill (Boone Co.); -2 at Mammoth Spring (Fulton Co.), Evening Shade (Sharp Co.), and Hardy (Sharp Co.); and -1 at Mountain Home (Baxter Co.) and Salem (Fulton Co.). Wind speeds were much less than the previous night, so wind chills were not substantially lower than the temperatures.