Check Now for Leaning Trees, Hanging Limbs
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: February 20, 2013
Arkansans were being advised to make last-minute checks for teetering trees and broken branches as a patchwork of winter weather warnings and watches blanketed counties north and west of a line running from near Mena to counties bordering the Missouri Bootheel.
Snow fell in Polk County early Wednesday and was replaced by rain. Sleet was moving in to central Arkansas mid-morning Wednesday, but John Robinson, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Little Rock said "The big episode of winter weather will be from late tonight (Wednesday night) into Thursday."
Robinson said for Wednesday night, northern Arkansas and the Ouachitas could see a quarter to a half-inch of freezing rain and sleet, possibly with some thunder. Central Arkansas would see smaller accumulations of freezing rain and sleet and southern Arkansas could expect "only a cold rain, with some thunder."
"The main thing people can do today is to make sure no limbs are hanging over their roofs and other structures," said Tamara Walkingstick, associate director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
"If those limbs can be reached safely, cut them back," she said Wednesday. "However, if they have limbs over power lines, they should call their power company."
Storms on Monday night cut power to thousands of Arkansas, destroying a home and damaging vehicles.
"My main concern are trees leaning or branches compromised from the Christmas snow that might topple or break with excess weight," Walkingstick said. "Especially any double trunk trees that were split but just didn't break."
In the Delta, "Most row crop producers are getting their equipment ready for the upcoming season, and probably trying to stay warm on a day like today," said Keith Perkins, Lonoke County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. "My Dad would say that there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothes."
To stay warm, Phillips County Extension Agent Robert Goodson recommended folks "make sure propane tanks full" and it wouldn't hurt to "have plenty of marshmallows for hot chocolate."
Robinson said the precipitation was expected to end over western Arkansas on Thursday afternoon and should leave the eastern edge of the state early Thursday evening.
Click here for more information about chain saw safety.
Click here for information about food planning after an outage.
Click here for an emergency food shopping list.
Information from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
Snow fell in Polk County early Wednesday and was replaced by rain. Sleet was moving in to central Arkansas mid-morning Wednesday, but John Robinson, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Little Rock said "The big episode of winter weather will be from late tonight (Wednesday night) into Thursday."
Robinson said for Wednesday night, northern Arkansas and the Ouachitas could see a quarter to a half-inch of freezing rain and sleet, possibly with some thunder. Central Arkansas would see smaller accumulations of freezing rain and sleet and southern Arkansas could expect "only a cold rain, with some thunder."
"The main thing people can do today is to make sure no limbs are hanging over their roofs and other structures," said Tamara Walkingstick, associate director of the Arkansas Forest Resources Center, part of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
"If those limbs can be reached safely, cut them back," she said Wednesday. "However, if they have limbs over power lines, they should call their power company."
Storms on Monday night cut power to thousands of Arkansas, destroying a home and damaging vehicles.
"My main concern are trees leaning or branches compromised from the Christmas snow that might topple or break with excess weight," Walkingstick said. "Especially any double trunk trees that were split but just didn't break."
In the Delta, "Most row crop producers are getting their equipment ready for the upcoming season, and probably trying to stay warm on a day like today," said Keith Perkins, Lonoke County extension agent for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. "My Dad would say that there is no such thing as bad weather just bad clothes."
To stay warm, Phillips County Extension Agent Robert Goodson recommended folks "make sure propane tanks full" and it wouldn't hurt to "have plenty of marshmallows for hot chocolate."
Robinson said the precipitation was expected to end over western Arkansas on Thursday afternoon and should leave the eastern edge of the state early Thursday evening.
Click here for more information about chain saw safety.
Click here for information about food planning after an outage.
Click here for an emergency food shopping list.
Information from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service.
