Fort Smith weather: Updates, radar as winter storm moves through area

Friday Morning

At 6 a.m. here, the temperature is 12 degrees with no wind, 91% humidity and a barometric pressure of 30.26 and steady.

According to the National Weather Service monitoring station at the Fort Smith Regional Airport (Latitude: 35.33°N, Longitude: 94.37°W, Elevation: 436 feet) the outlook for today is sunny, with a high near 34. Wind chill values between 4 and 14 are expected with a southwest wind around 5 mph.

Thursday Afternoon

The high today here at my house has been 37, about 4 degrees higher than expected. The sound of snow melting off the south side roof onto the patio is a calming reminder this will be over soon. But I'll be careful if I go out tomorrow since it's expected to get down to 8 degrees tonight and that will freeze back over. I've already slipped once, but it wasn't as bad as that time at Soldier Field in Chicago when I broke my Pentax camera.

Today we got out for the first time this week for an hour to try and get the kids to sleep. It worked for one of them. Fiona fell asleep holding her pizza from Casey's General Store in Barling. Blake is still going. We made a loop around Chaffee Crossing and noticed Wells Lake was frozen over but starting to melt.

The main roads in Fort Smith are clear but most of the side roads are still covered in snow. 

The National Weather Service forecast for Friday is sunny skies with a high of 35 and a low of 15. We're still surprised it got down to -7 here. Neither Sarah or I think we've ever been in temps that cold. It was a surreal experience having that kind of weather hit here in Arkansas. Trekking to the shed with the wheel-barrow for firewood made me feel like I was in New England.

Many of you who are reading this are probably thinking the same thing: Nice to see for a little while, but "no thanks" on this much snow for long stretches.

I've heard stories of pipes bursting in Fort Smith, a church underwater from the breaks, and at least one home with sewer backing up into tubs. If it happened to them, it has probably happened to many of you. While it doesn't appear to be as bad as it is in Texas, the people affected here are in my thoughts. And the plumbers and city workers who are called to fix this are appreciated.

The Associated Press reported today that power was restored to more homes and businesses in Texas on Thursday after this blast of polar weather crashed the electrical grid and left millions in the cold. Man people there are still in need of safe drinking water.

About a half-million homes remained without electricity in Texas on Thursday, the AP reported, and limited rolling blackouts could still occur there.

The storms also left more than 320,000 homes and businesses without power in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the AP report noted. About 70,000 power outages persisted after an ice storm in eastern Kentucky, while nearly 67,000 were without electricity in West Virginia.

So, we are counting our blessings, so far.

Energy Conservation Requested

The Southwest Power Pool, the power grid operator for a region covering 14 states in the central U.S., has lowered its Energy Emergency Alert to "conservative operations." This wording is likely lauded by Republicans, while Democrats probably say they are still the best at turning the lights off when they leave the room. I'm not sure what it means for the state's Independent Party, but the Arkansas Republican leadership is tearing into state Sen. Jim Hendren going Independent. (More on that below)

OG&E put out a release at about 11:20 a.m. today saying the Southwest Power Pool has directed its member utilities to continue pausing controlled interruptions of service.

“Our conservation efforts are working, and we thank our customers for voluntarily reducing energy usage during this difficult time,” David Kimmel, OG&E spokesperson, said in a news release. “While things are improving, it’s important that we stay diligent until natural gas supplies stabilize.”

Although the threat of controlled service interruption has lessened for now, the demand for natural gas is still high and supply is limited, which means there is still a significant potential for the reinstatement of short-term service interruptions. With freezing temperatures in the forecast, OG&E is also keeping extra resources on its system to address any issues and potential weather-related outages as snow starts to melt. The company is encouraging customers to stay prepared and continue conserving energy as much as they are safely able to do so.

“We’re asking all customers – commercial, industrial and residential – across the state, and the entire mid-continent, to pitch in and help us get through this difficult time by continuing to conserve energy in the best way that they can,” Kimmel added.

Cold Politics 

Jonelle Fulmer, chairwoman of the Republican Party of Arkansas, put out a release Thursday morning saying potential Arkansas governor candidate Jim Hendren has never reached out to her, or her predecessor, about his concerns about the state's Republican Party.

"This is nothing more than an attempt to garner press for a future independent candidacy for governor, knowing that he cannot compete with the conservative records of Attorney General Leslie Rutledge or Sarah Huckabee Sanders," Fulmer said in the statement.

Fulmer also pointed out Hendren "gladly received the party's substantial support" over the years, and ran as a Republican just three months ago. 

"The Republican Party has plenty of room for differing ideas," Fulmer said. "In fact, that is what has made us the majority party of Arkansas. Some of the concerns raised by Jim stem from a presidential primary five years ago, which calls into question his motivation now."

For those who have been outside playing in the snow, Hendren announced Thursday he's leaving the GOP. According to The Associated Press, Gov. Asa Hutchinson's nephew is "citing Donald Trump's rhetoric and the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol by the former president's supporters."

A decision for Hendren on his bid for governor in 2022 is on the “back burner," the AP reports. He is focusing on an organization he formed aimed at helping independent candidates.

Looking Out

I like the forecasts for Thursday and Friday. The National Weather Service expects sunny skies and a high of 32 today and a high of 39 on Friday. The low Thursday night is a grim 7 degrees. Friday night it will dip down to the teens again. This forecast was updated Thursday morning to show a 1-degree lower low for Thursday night and a 2-degree higher high for Friday.

The National Weather Service expects a high of 50 degrees on Saturday. We're looking into how slow or fast this stuff will melt and if there is potential for flooding. In all, we got about 6.5 inches of snow here in Fort Smith since Sunday. It will be messy – but sunny – out there Monday after the thaw. A high of 63 is expected Monday following. There's still a 20% chance for showers on Sunday with a low of 32 Sunday night.

Last night we saw people in our neighborhood sledding behind vehicles. One was in a kayak. Although it's fun, and we all did some form of this too, when were kids, it's obviously dangerous. Someone who was being towed on an inner tube behind a van in the snow was hit by a car about 3 p.m. Wednesday near North 45th Street and North J Street. The victim is in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, I've learned in our morning South region call that people in DeRidder, Louisiana are using their four-wheelers as slow plows ; and thousands are still without power in Mississippi.

OG&E has not released an update yet as of 9:30 a.m. Thursday on whether our region has any power outages, or if any more rolling blackouts are expected.

Wednesday Evening

AOG has asked natural gas customers to conserve energy and turn their thermostats lower than usual (68 if health permits). I previously thought AOG was asking for us to lower it to 60 degrees. That wasn't the case. And Sarah wasn't going for it anyway. Our downstairs fireplace helps keep upstairs about 3 degrees warmer, but 60 degrees is just a little too low for most Arkansans. We have it on 67 and will turn it down further overnight.

Wednesday Afternoon

As of 3:30 p.m., there are no power outages on the OG&E system. OG&E just sent out a news release updating us that temporary service interruptions also remain on hold for now. This could change at any time, they added, because of the extreme cold weather in the region, combined with the high demand for natural gas.

My AcuRite weather station says it's 23 degrees out with 76% humidity and a barometric pressure of 29.92 and falling. The high today here has been 24 degrees. 

Our reporters are working on a few things today that are not weather-related, including a news obituary on Tom Caldarera, co-owner of Taliano's Italian Restaurant at 14th and B streets in Fort Smith. He was 90, and nothing short of a local legend. I knew Tom from reporting on the Fort Smith Advertising & Promotion Commission. He always had a good question and smile on his face. Our regional reporter Alex Gladden is working on that today.

Wednesday Morning

At 8 a.m. it is 15 degrees, with 92% humidity. There is a 1 mph breeze with barometric pressure at 29.99 and steady, according to the AcuRite weather station posted atop the shed. My old-fashioned thermometer on our covered back porch rises closer to 20 degrees.

Another 2 inches of snow fell last night on Fort Smith. Thankfully it was not the 6-8 inches projecprobably going to be the last we will get other than another dusting today.

As of 7:30 a.m., there were no outages on the OG&E system. Last night, crews restored power to all customers with outages related to yesterday's weather, the company said in a news release. OG&E continues to monitor today's weather and temperatures while more than 1,000 restoration personnel are system to address any issues.

'Second Wave'

Times Record Max Bryan talked to the National Weather Service people over in Tulsa Tuesday morning, and they say we could get another 6-8 inches of snow over the next few days in a "second wave" of snow. The snowfall is expected to continue Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Tuesday Night

This second wave could provide enough snow for a decent snowman, snowwoman and snowkids, too. Thankfully, Fort Smith Brewing Co. delivers beer in this mess. The manager, David Derry, used to live in Wisconsin and this is just another day in paradise for him. A story on that from Alex Gladden goes live at 9 tonight. Check your newsletter for it in the morning if you miss it tonight.

We learned this evening that AOG, our gas provider, is likely curtailing gas output in Sebastian County. But we don't know yet if it relates to all this snow. The notification says "upstream providers have indicated that our gas supply will be decreased by 33%" and "as a result we may be forced to curtail delivery to specific geographic areas of our service territory in order to maintain system delivery to the larger segment of customers."

We have lowered our gas water heater per requested, and I'll try not to take a long shower after this long day. It's time for a homebrew, which will be consumed in a Fort Smith Brewing Co. glass in honor of the hard working guys and gals there who keep the beer flowing.

AS of 7:30 pm., our AcuRite weather station shows a temp of 19 degrees with a 2 mph wind. The peak wind here today was 4 mph. The humidity is now at 68% and the barometric pressure is 29.98 and steady. The little graphic shows a forecast of snow. 

The National Weather Service shows a winter storm warning in effect until 6 a.m. Thursday. Total snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches is expected in portions of west-central Arkansas, as well as east-central, northeast and southeast Oklahoma.

"Travel could be very difficult to impossible tonight," the National Weather Service adds. "The hazardous conditions will likely impact the Wednesday morning commute."

If you are commuting to work, I wish you the safest voyage.

Tuesday Afternoon

We ventured out for a romp in the front yard's pristine, untouched snow. The sun was out and without sunglasses I was snow blind. So the photos I took are either poorly framed or a head is cut in half. Any selfies with Sarah are squinty and unsharable. It was a beautiful afternoon, and if had sunglasses it would've been much better.

Our neighbor/sister-in-law's sister Joan Newell came down with her dogs for the big front yard snow party. She's from the southwest Colorado San Juan Mountain region and had the right gear for this kind of weather; including sunglasses. I think I saw a ski tag on her coat still. While me and Roxie (the bigger of the two dogs, a rescue from Georgia) went back inside, Joan and Sarah and the kids went down to Tim and Lori Hull's house to catch up. They gave Blake their son Christian's old snow gloves, and Blake is a much happier camper now.

Noon Tuesday

The temperature has risen to 18 degrees with no wind chill and a humidity of 51%. The barometric pressure is 30.08 and rising. That 4 3/4-inches of snow has compacted down to a depth of 4 inches.

We were glad to hear that OG&E, our power provider, has put a hold on the rolling outages. We have our thermostat set on 67 and have a fire going downstairs to ward off the chill. But getting it started was kind of tricky today. Tired of blowing on the coals to get it going, I enlisted the help of a leaf blower to help stoke the fire. It does the job, as long as you don't overdo it. Blake's idea of helping was having the leaf blower go a full blast, which sent smoke and ashes flying out the fireplace.

Tuesday Morning

Our AcuRite weather station says it is -6 outside, cold than Fairbanks, Alaska this morning. Our outdoor thermometer under the back porch says it is straight-up zero degrees. It's no longer a winter wonderland. It's a deep freeze.

Fort Smith weather radar

How are you preparing for the storm?

At the Lovett home, we are stocked up on firewood in case the power and gas go out. We've also been stocking up on food for the past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I have 10 gallons of homebrewed pale ale in the kegs, and a six-pack of Black Is Beautiful stout I picked up at Core Brewing in Springdale the other day. So, I'm good. And after wanting one for ages, my wife Sarah finally got a treadmill yesterday. So, she's good, too.

Meanwhile, we are more concerned for those less fortunate out there who are living without a roof over their heads. We send our prayers out for their safety and to those who have to make a decision on how much they can run their heat with food and medicine on their minds.

Having lived in Golden, Colorado for a year, and Chicago for a winter, I've had my fill of snow days. I am just glad this stuff coming down today is powdery. I don't expect this snowstorm to be very disruptive to our lives, but it certainly could for others.

Growing up in South Arkansas around El Dorado and Crossett, it seems like anytime there was white on the ground it was because of an ice storm, which wreaks way more havoc on powerlines and roads more than this stuff. 

We are considering ourselves fortunate, and are staying warm and cozy on this winter day. It's a very special Valentine's Day for us. When the snow piles up a little more we'll be taking some of that cardboard the treadmill was shipped in to make make-shift Arkansas-style snow sleds for the kids, then come back in for some hot cocoa, or a cool beer.

Monday Evening

With sundown hidden behind snow clouds, the temperature has begun to drop. At 5:45 p.m. it is 13 degrees here with an 8-degree wind chill. The fire is going downstairs in the day basement to help heat up the living area upstairs, where the kids are on their fourth rerun of "Toy Story 2" in two days. It must be like "Rocky II" to them.

I've put up the dishes and rewarded myself with some good homebrew while Sarah prepares a fan-favorite, family recipe of Salisbury Steak. It's better with deer meat and wild hog sausage, but I have not been a good hunter. That will hopefully change. New glasses will help. The other day in Gellco picking up some items, I overheard over 300 feral hogs were taken out of Fort Chaffee. I'd like to get in on that. Imagine how many hungry people in Fort Smith that we could feed with that. I volunteer.

Monday Afternoon

It's about 3:30 p.m. Sunday and we still haven't gotten out in the snow. It is 15 degrees with a day-time high wind speed of 10 mph where I live, according to my AcuRite weather station. The wind has been coming in at about 4 mph for the past hour or so. The humidity outside is at 86% and the barometric pressure is 30.12 and falling.

I was out in it briefly to take a party tent down that covers my brewing stand. Trucker, one of our cats, was playing around in the snow then. You could tell he'd never seen it before. He kept pawing at it and trying to figure out what it is. Blake, our 2-year-old son, is kind of interested in it. He stuck his hand out the door and caught some but quickly gave an "Uck" and wiped it on his shirt. Since then, the kids mostly watched "Chip and Potato" before taking a nap. Fiona, our 4-year-old daughter, is more interested in the new treadmill which has a screen on it that shows views of the beach. That's really where we'd rather be.

When Blake gets up from his nap, we'll all get bundled up and go outside for a few minutes to make a few snowballs before coming back in to eat the rest of that strawberry cake Sarah made last night. That's really what I'd rather be doing, anyway.

Around 5 p.m. we finally got out in the snow for a bit. Blake gave it a few goes in five-minute increments, with us re-outfitting him each time. Fiona seems more adapted to the cold weather, but it may be because she's watched "Frozen" so many times. 

One thing I forgot to do in preparing for this cold snap was covering our lettuce that has somehow managed to survive since the summer. If it survives this, it has been genetically modified by wonderful scientists to survive sub-freezing temperatures.

Judging from the accumulation on the slide, the amount of snow that has fallen so far in our backyard in Fort Smith is right about 1 inch.

Noon Monday

The kids lasted a total of five minutes playing in the snow after it stopped falling. It took Sarah 15 minutes to get them bundled up for it over the course of two failed launches. Snow got under their socks on the first attempt. Then it was just all over them the second go. A fierce thumbs down and big-time boohoos from Blake on the snow. Fiona said she wishes it was summer so she could go to the waterpark. We're ruling out any Colorado wintertime vacations and hanging out downstairs by the fire for a bit to warm up. Fiona and Blake are getting hot cocoa. I'm about to try a fresh batch of Sarah's chicken taco soup.

My measuring tape indicates 4-3/4 inches of snow has fallen here so far. It's still 13 degrees and 7 with a windchill.

The National Weather Service forecasts a second snowstorm will begin after midnight Tuesday and taper off Thursday morning, bringing 8-11 inches of snow. It will not begin to melt at least until Friday, which is the first forecast day with temps above freezing.

Monday Morning

It's a winter wonderland in our backyard with a rare 4- to 5-inch snowfall in Fort Smith. And the snow keeps coming down. It's 13 degrees with a 3 mph wind making it feel like 7. The humidity is 78% and the barometric pressure is 30.08 and rising. 

Someone my wife works with is using #WhoMadeElsaMad for her snow pics. As long as the power stays on in our area, and the internet keeps streaming, I'll be OK with it. I'm not sure what the Inuits call this kind of snow, but it's not light and powdery and not like the heavy and wet snow we saw last weekend my parent's place between Mena and Boles.

Sunday morning

Vallentine's Day became a little more special in Fort Smith this year with the first of what is expected to be a 4- to 6-inch snowfall over the next few days. The flurries began here about 7 a.m., a little earlier than expected. I'm not sure if that means we'll get more snow than projected or if it just will be over sooner.

Sunday forecast

The National Weather Service predicted up to 2 inches of snow could fall through the day on Sunday with bitterly cold temperatures: The official high was expected to be near 20 degrees but wind chill would make it feel like between 2 and 7 degrees.

Snow was expected to continue through the evening, tapering off before midnight. It might be heavy at times, according to the weather service. Gusty winds will cause what snow is there to blow around and make travel even more difficult and forecasts called for up to 3 more inches to fall Sunday night.

Monday forecast

There's a chance of snow before 12 p.m. Monday and it's supposed to turn sunny in the afternoon, but it'll be really cold all day. The high temperature should only reach 12 degrees and wind chills will make it feel as cold as -10. It should remain clear and cold Monday night. 

Looking Back

Sarah and I were trying to remember when this much snow fell in Fort Smith. We recalled a late February 2015 snowfall that knocked out her birthday trip plans for me. She had set up a horseback riding excursion in Muskogee. Instead, we ended up just walking around the Fort. I was living downtown on North Sixth Street at the time. We did our normal loop around the Fort Smith National Historic Site and back around through the Riverfront Amphitheater to the train tracks.