Arctic high pressure brought in a cold air mass to the state. At the same time, a storm system approached from the southwest.
Every event with a place to put it; 14 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.
Arctic high pressure brought in a cold air mass to the state. At the same time, a storm system approached from the southwest. Moisture ahead of the system flowed into subfreezing air, resulting in patchy light wintry precipitation during the morning hours on the 20th. While ice accumulations were minor (a few hundredths of an inch), it was enough to create travel issues and many accidents across the area.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 20, 5:24 AM CST, 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 524 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015 .AVIATION... A DEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING LIGHT FREEZING PRECIPITATION TO THE AREA THIS MORNING. WARMER AIR WILL SURGE IN LATER TODAY AND ALL PRECIPITATION WILL TURN TO RAIN. RAIN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD WITH SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WINDS UNTIL VERY LATE IN THE PERIOD. WIDESPREAD MVFR TO IFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 503 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT PRECIPITATION IS ALREADY BREAKING OUT ACROSS THE REGION. MAIN FORECAST ISSUE THIS MORNING HAS BEEN TEMPERATURES TRENDS. SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS IS ALREADY AT OR ABOVE FREEZING...AND THE FREEZING LINE WILL SLOWLY MOVE NORTH. THE ONE CAVEAT IS THE ARKANSAS VERSION OF COLD AIR DAMMING...WITH EAST WINDS KEEPING COOLER TEMPERATURES ACROSS CENTRAL AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS. THIS ONLY SLOWS LIQUID PRECIP BY AN HOUR OR TWO FROM THINKING LAST NIGHT...AND HAVE ADJUSTED WINTER STORM HEADLINES ACCORDINGLY. DID KEEP A FREEZING RAIN/RAIN MIX GOING ACROSS THE FAR NORTH AFTER SUNSET TONIGHT...AS THE TERRAIN WILL LIKELY KEEP POCKETS OF COLDER AIR IN PLACE LONGER. AS FAR AS AMOUNTS...MANY LOCATIONS WILL REMAIN BE A TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS OF ICE. THE MOST LIKELY LOCATIONS FOR TRAVEL CONCERNS WILL BE THE NORTHEAST COUNTIES...WHERE THE LONGER TIME FRAME BELOW FREEZING. ALL LOCATIONS WILL BE ABOVE FREEZING SATURDAY...AND EVEN HAVE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE SOUTH...WHERE TEMPERATURES WILL RISE INTO THE 60S. COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE STATE LATE SATURDAY...WITH MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION MOVING OUT OF THE REGION SATURDAY EVENING. GUIDANCE DIFFERS IN HOW QUICKLY THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES NORTH...AND HAVE SMALL POPS IN FOR SUNDAY/SUNDAY NIGHT. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NOT A LOT OF CHANGES WILL BE FORTH COMING THIS MORNING AS MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW AN ACTIVE...UNSETTLED AND SPLIT FLOW PATTERN PERSISTING. MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT INITIALLY BEFORE DIVERGING AS THE PERIOD PROGRESSES. THAT BEING SAID...WILL CONTINUE TO USE A BLEND OF FORECAST SOLUTIONS THIS MORNING. PERIOD INITIATES WITH BROAD CYCLONIC FLOW COVERING THE MAJORITY OF THE NATION EAST OF THE ROCKIES. A WEAK SOUTHERN STREAM SYSTEM WILL BE EXITING THE AREA EARLY IN THE PERIOD WITH PRECIPITATION ON THE DECREASE. GFS A LITTLE MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE PRECIPITATION VERSUS THE ECMWF BUT OVERALL IT APPEARS ANY ACCUMULATION WILL BE MINIMAL. HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN BUILD BACK INTO THE REGION FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH TEMPERATURES A GOOD 10 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL FOR LATE FEBRUARY. ANOTHER WEAK SOUTHERN STREAM SYSTEM WILL BRUSH THE SOUTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY BUT ONLY MINIMAL POPS CAN BE JUSTIFIED AT THIS TIME. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 33 33 44 30 / 80 100 90 20 CAMDEN AR 53 53 65 38 / 60 80 90 40 HARRISON AR 36 32 43 25 / 70 100 80 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 40 40 55 35 / 70 90 90 20 LITTLE ROCK AR 38 38 54 34 / 70 90 90 30 MONTICELLO AR 49 49 65 37 / 60 80 90 50 MOUNT IDA AR 40 40 53 34 / 70 90 80 20 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 32 31 44 25 / 70 100 90 20 NEWPORT AR 33 33 45 30 / 80 100 90 30 PINE BLUFF AR 44 44 61 35 / 70 90 90 40 RUSSELLVILLE AR 36 36 51 32 / 70 100 90 20 SEARCY AR 35 35 46 32 / 70 100 90 30 STUTTGART AR 38 38 55 34 / 70 90 90 40 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 AM CST SATURDAY FOR BAXTER-CLEBURNE- FULTON-INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-SHARP-STONE. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM CST THIS AFTERNOON FOR ARKANSAS-CONWAY-JOHNSON-LOGAN-LONOKE-MONROE-PERRY-POPE-PRAIRIE- PULASKI-SALINE-YELL. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING FOR BOONE- FAULKNER-MARION-NEWTON-SEARCY-VAN BUREN-WHITE-WOODRUFF. FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL NOON CST TODAY FOR CLARK-CLEVELAND- DALLAS-DESHA-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING-JEFFERSON-LINCOLN- MONTGOMERY-PIKE-POLK-SCOTT. FREEZING RAIN ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING FOR BRADLEY- CALHOUN-DREW-OUACHITA. && AVIATION...56
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-211100- ARKANSAS-BAXTER-BOONE-BRADLEY-CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND- CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER-FULTON-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING- INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE- MARION-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-NEWTON-OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE-POLK-POPE- PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-SEARCY-SHARP-STONE-VAN BUREN-WHITE- WOODRUFF-YELL- 500 AM CST FRI FEB 20 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PATCHY FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET AT THIS TIME WILL EXPAND LATER THIS MORNING TO COVER A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUALLY WARM ENOUGH FROM THE SOUTH DURING THE DAY TO CHANGE EVERYTHING OVER TO RAIN FOR MOST AREAS BY LATE IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE LAST AREA TO SEE THE CHANGEOVER WILL BE THE NORTHEAST CORNER WHERE THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS OF ICE WILL BE POSSIBLE. NUMEROUS WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT WITH A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THE NORTHEAST. ICE ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM A LIGHT GLAZE TO A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE BEFORE THE CHANGE OVER OCCURS. ICE AMOUNTS OF UP TO A TENTH OF AN INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE NORTH OF A BRINKLEY TO LITTLE ROCK TO HOT SPRINGS LINE. THE HIGHEST AMOUNTS WILL BE SEEN NORTH OF A LINE FROM AUGUSTA...TO CLINTON...TO MOUNTAIN HOME WHERE AMOUNTS WHERE TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW FREEZING THE LONGEST. RAIN IS EXPECTED MOST OF FRIDAY NIGHT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE FAR NORTHEAST WHERE A MIX OF RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY RAIN...LOCALLY HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE ON SATURDAY WITH THE PRECIPITATION ENDING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST. THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO A DISTINCT POSSIBILITY DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY AND SOME COULD BE STRONG OVER THE SOUTH. THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO TURN TO LIGHT SNOW LATER SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE STORM SYSTEM SHIFTS OUT OF ARKANSAS AND COLDER AIR MOVES IN. THE FORECAST IS VERY COMPLICATED AND CONTINUES TO BE REFINED. PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 56
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
18 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports. Some of these accidents included a school bus sliding off the road around Cabot, and a highway department truck sliding off the road near Searcy.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports. In fact, three fire trucks slid into a ditch while responding to a fire.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
Light freezing rain caused hazardous travel conditions across the county, with several traffic accidents reports.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, February 2015
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 558608, 558614, 558615, 558616, 558617, 558607, 558609, 558611, 558612, 558618, 558619, 558620, 558621, 558604, 558610, 558613, 558605, 558606.