Rafael Escalera Montoto

rescalera@adgnewsroom.com

Rafael is a crime and breaking news reporter at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Before joining the Democrat-Gazette, he wrote breaking news and feature stories at Reuters in Mexico City, where he covered a range of topics across Central and South America. He has also covered housing, education, business and other topics at The Baltimore Banner. He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY) and is from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Friday morning’s winter storm forecast for Arkansas remained basically the same from earlier projections.

“It’s going to be primarily a snow show up north, then sleet with some snow mixed in in central, and then we’re getting into that sketchy area of south and southeast where it will be primarily ice with sleet mixed in,” said Willie Gilmore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.

In an email with its weather briefing early Friday, the Weather Service said, “A significant winter storm will impact the state over the next 48 hours with heavy snowfall, sleet and freezing rain expected along with dangerously cold temperatures.”

Sleet and snow are expected to begin Friday afternoon in western Arkansas and after 6 p.m. in central Arkansas. The winter weather will continue through Sunday morning with the greatest impacts expected Saturday into Saturday night, according to the briefing.

Snow accumulations are expected to be from 4 to 12 inches, with the most in the northern part of the state.

Central Arkansas will see a mix of snow and sleet, with projected accumulations from 2 to 5 inches.

Sleet accumulations of up to 3 inches are forecast for south Arkansas.

A thin layer of freezing rain could coat a swath of central Arkansas stretching from Oklahoma to Tennessee and up to the Missouri bootheel.

South Arkansas could see a quarter-inch to a half-inch of freezing rain, with locally greater amounts near three-quarters of an inch possible, the weather service said.

Temperatures will plummet Friday night. There will be dangerously cold wind chills of 5 to 10 degrees below zero for multiple mornings, according to the Weather Service. Minimum air temperatures will be as low as 5 to 0 degrees. Sub-zero air temperatures will be possible where the deepest snow totals occur.

The temperature isn’t expected to rise above freezing again until Tuesday.

Gilmore said the highs on Tuesday and Wednesday will be in the mid to upper 30s, so any melting will refreeze that night, making driving dangerous.

“Dangerous to near impossible travel conditions are expected areawide, with impacts likely to continue into next week given the forecasted snow and sleet amounts,” according to the National Weather Service office in Tulsa, which monitors weather in seven counties in Northwest Arkansas. “Localized power outages may occur. … Brutally cold temperatures will prevail through the weekend and into early next week.”