Winter weather blankets Polk County

By Trey Youngdahl

The wintry weather the weather models predicted for Tuesday, Jan. 24 came to fruition and blanketed most of Polk County with rain turning quickly to snow just before noon. A Winter Weather Advisory went into effect at noon and remained in effect through 6 a.m. on Wednesday.

Snowfall from Winter Storm Kassandra varied by several inches across Polk County, with the National Weather Service Little Rock office announcing on their site that the first noticeable problems on Arkansas roads was in the Ouachita Mountains in Polk and Scott counties.

The snow fell until sunset with a brief lull, turning to mixed precipitation. The snow picked up again later in the evening, finally stopping sometime around midnight.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), some areas of the county like Bogg Springs were reported to have gotten as little as 1 inch, while other places such as Big Fork received up to 5 inches of snow. Mena was in the middle, reporting 4 inches of snow.

Queen Wilhelmina had the most snowfall for Polk County, with NWS reporting up to 8 inches. This

Several vehicles slid or spun off into ditches, signs and yards beginningwithin an hour of the snowfall. (Ethan Nahté/Pulse) was due to the elevation and is not uncommon in events like this.

Mt. Magazine in Logan County received the most accumulation in Arkansas with 16 inches of snow.

Area temperatures dropped to 24 degrees. NWS reported had it been 5 degrees colder, there would have been significantly higher amount of snow — closer to 10 inches. Due to moisture levels, 1 inch of rain was equivalent to 5-6 inches of snow during this storm.

Electric companies were experiencing power outages throughout the area. Rich Mountain Electric Cooperative reported that the outages began around 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday and continued into Wednesday. Northern Polk County suffered the majority of those outages, but linemen managed to get the power back on for most customers relatively quickly.

According to their Facebook page, the Co-op sent crews to northern Arkansas to assist other electric co-ops on Thursday.

Entergy had over 36,000 customers without power throughout Arkansas. They estimated they would have 90% of their customers back with power by 10 p.m. that Wednesday. More freezing precipitation fell Monday, Jan. 30 and is predicted to continue through Wednesday, Feb. 1 as Winter Storm Mara moves through, with lows back in the midto-high 20s.

Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas offer 2023 Legislative Guide

Little Rock, Ark. — Jan. 30, 2023 —

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas recently launched the 2023 digital version of its popular Arkansas Legislative Directory. The digital directory is free and offered to iPhone and Android users.

“The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas Legislative Guide provides an easy-to-use tool to allow Arkansans to contact their state and federal elected officials,” said Buddy Hasten, president/CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas. “It is important that electric cooperative members stay in contact with their elected officials, and our app simplifies the process.”

The digital application provides names and detailed profiles of state and federal officials, interactive contact links with telephone numbers and e-mail addresses, detailed district maps and other pertinent information.

“Arkansas’ electric cooperatives are advocates for our members,” said Bill Gossage, vice president of governmental affairs with the cooperatives. “As always, by working with our members, we ensure that policies and laws are fair and in the best interest of Arkansans.”

The directory may be downloaded at: https://aecc.com/government-affairs/legislative-guide/

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas comprise 17 electric distribution cooperatives; Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (AECI), a Little Rockbased cooperative that provides various services to the distribution cooperatives; and AECC, a generation and transmission cooperative. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to more than 600,000 members, or customers, in Arkansas and surrounding states.