Even as the thermometer read 60 degrees Monday afternoon in Magnolia, the town’s citizens could only wait to see what the next batch of winter storms and Arctic air held in store. The answer came with an unofficial snowfall Tuesday of 2 5/8 inches and overnight temperatures that plunged into near single digits. With a weather system such a this, it’s clear that Old Man Winter is far from breathing his last breath upon the area.
The hazardous winter storm did bring fun to some in the area. Magnolia’s typical total annual snowfall is just under 2 inches, and with nearly 3 inches accumulated in only a few hours early Tuesday morning, the pickings were ripe for some “snow day” entertainment.
Students at Southern Arkansas University were seen sliding on makeshift sleds down what little hills they could find near the campus’ Honors Dormitory, and the school mascot, Molly Ann the mule, joined her rider, Abbie Guin, as they enjoyed the snow covered pastures overlooking campus.
It was not all fun and games, though, for many on the roadways of Columbia County. Drivers were met with patches of perfect blacktop mixed with nearly invisible white and black ice. Wrecks were reported in Walker and near-crashes were reported by some on local roads.
“I almost lost it a couple of times out there,” said one driver on Tuesday.
And although the snowfall may have caused many travel nightmares, the outlook for Wednesday is nearly just as bleak.
“There’s one problem,” said KSLA-12 Shreveport Meteorologist Ron Young on Tuesday, “overnight [there is a] hard freeze warning. We’re not going to get above freezing…nothing is melting.”
Overnight lows for Tuesday in Magnolia unofficially hit between 10 and 13 degrees. With such bone-chilling weather, many rural and city roads’ icy top-layers have now become even more of a hazard than yesterday.
“A lot of the snow and slush will refreeze,” said Young. “This could cause travel problems again.”
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Shreveport predicted Tuesday overnight wind chills to reach 5 degrees. With such extreme weather patterns as those, NWS stated frostbite could occur “in as little as 30 minutes to any exposed skin.”
Tonight’s lows are not predicted to be much higher than Tuesday’s. The federal weather agency forecasts a clear, 16-degree period. However, the temperatures should see a spike Thursday as the sun shines and the highs reach into the low 40s. The weekend should also see more typical mercury readings of approximately 50 degrees.
The Ark-La-Tex was not the only part of the country hit this week by winter’s wrath. On Tuesday morning, northeastern Kansas residents experienced wind chills hovering around -20 from the same storm system that hit Columbia County. As actual air temperatures in Magnolia reached a high around 26 Tuesday, the same could not be said for the Topeka, Kan., area that saw highs in the single digits.
For those warming homes with space heaters, remember never to use the device near curtains or flammable items.