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Yearly Reports
Interested in what kind of weather occurred in a recent year? Check out the most memorable events below.
Snow and Ice (Feb 17-20, 2006)
 
High/low temperatures and temperature falls from 12 pm CST on 02/16/2006 to 6 am CST on 02/17/2006. The event began with a cold frontal passage on February 16th, and a few severe storms along the front. Behind the front, temperatures dropped more than 50 degrees in some areas in less than 24 hours! For a look at the temperature falls, click here.  
In the picture: High/low temperatures and temperature falls from 12 pm CST on 02/16/2006 to 6 am CST on 02/17/2006.

 

The front stalled along the Gulf Coast, with west winds aloft bringing a storm system from the southern Plains. The system interacted with the front late on the 17th/early on the 18th, with moisture surging northward into the cold air.

 

The cold air was deep enough to support snow in northern Arkansas. Two to as much of six inches of snow was common in about the northern two rows of counties. For a look at some accumulations, click here.    Snowfall in northern Arkansas as of 2 pm CST on 02/18/2006.
In the picture: Snowfall in northern Arkansas as of 2 pm CST on 02/18/2006. 

 

A sounding (temperature/dewpoint profile with height) at Little Rock (Pulaski County) at 6 am on 02/18/2006. In central and southern sections of the state, the cold air was more shallow...with a layer of warm air aloft. In these areas, snow fell though the warm layer and melted...but refroze as it neared the ground. The result was freezing rain and sleet.
In the picture: A sounding (temperature/dewpoint profile with height) at Little Rock (Pulaski County) at 6 am on 02/18/2006. The sounding showed a shallow cold airmass near the ground, with warmer air aloft. Temperatures and dewpoint temperatures were nearly identical through the profile, indicating that the atmosphere was nearly saturated (with precipitation likely). In this case, freezing rain and/or sleet occurred.

 

Where sleet was predominant (central sections), accumulations were generally under half an inch...with less than a quarter of an inch of ice accrual where freezing rain occurred (mainly in southern sections). Sleet and/or freezing rain occurred in much of central and southern Arkansas early on 02/18/2006...with roads partially ice covered in Sherwood (Pulaski County).
In the picture: Sleet and/or freezing rain occurred in much of central and southern Arkansas early on 02/18/2006...with roads partially ice covered in Sherwood (Pulaski County). Click to enlarge.

 

Snow and ice mostly ended during the afternoon of the 18th...with only scattered precipitation remaining. Very cold temperatures followed, with readings in the teens and 20s by the morning of the 19th. There was some wind as well (5 to 15 mph), with wind chill readings below zero at times in northern Arkansas.

 

The WSR-88D (Doppler Weather Radar) showed a wintry mix of precipitation near the Arkansas and Missouri border at 1235 pm CST on 02/19/2006. 
In the picture: The WSR-88D (Doppler Weather Radar) showed a wintry mix of  precipitation near the Arkansas and Missouri border at 1235 pm CST on 02/19/2006. Meanwhile, patchy light freezing rain was set to build into southern sections of the state from northeastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana.   
On the 19th, more light wintry precipitation spread into areas close to the Arkansas and Missouri border. A mixture of light snow, sleet and freezing rain was reported...with little additional accumulation. This precipitation headed to the east, with an area of freezing drizzle/light freezing rain spreading into southern Arkansas during the overnight hours of the 19th/early on the 20th. A thin glaze of ice formed on roadways in the south...making travel hazardous.  

 

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