Winter Storm in Arkansas, January 30 to 31, 2023

An arctic airmass settled over the Mid-South from late January into early February with a front stalled just south of the region. A series of upper-level disturbances overrunning that arctic air resulted in three rounds of wintry precipitation with some significant tree and powerline damage. Travel was also impacted across the Mid-South. The first round started late on January 30th and continued until the morning of January 31st. Heavy sleet fell across the northern tier of the Mid-South from northeast Arkansas into the Missouri Bootheel and northwest Tennessee. Heavy freezing rain fell across parts of east-central Arkansas with lighter amounts into West Tennessee along the I-40 corridor. Round two moved into the Mid-South during the afternoon and evening of January 31st with sleet along and north of the Tennessee/Mississippi state line, heaviest across the Memphis metropolitan area, and light freezing rain across extreme northern Mississippi. The third round started on the evening of February 1st and ended on the morning of February 2nd. Freezing rain spread across areas along and south of the Interstate 40 corridor including east-central Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, and southwest Tennessee. This round resulted in numerous power outages across east-central Arkansas, northwest Mississippi, and southwest Tennessee. There was significant tree damage across extreme northwest Mississippi.