Weekend forecast shows more cold weather on way

A new cold front moving into
the region is expected to bring
another stretch of below-freezing
temperatures to St. Francis
County and Eastern Arkansas,
creating hazardous travel
conditions through the weekend.
Desiree Meadows, a
meteorologist with the National
Weather Service in Memphis,
said the county is not expected
to see temperatures rise above
freezing again until Sunday
afternoon.
“A cold front is on the way,
unfortunately, and it’s going to
bring in a pretty cold weekend,”
Meadows said.
The primary concern,
Meadows said, is the refreezing
of moisture left behind from last
weekend’s winter storm.
With temperatures slightly
above freezing on Thursday,
melting was expected to occur
before temperatures dropped
back below freezing overnight.
“The main concern there is
that since we have been above
freezing, things are going to start
melting from our past winter
storm,” Meadows said. “Then, of
course, going back down to cold,
it’s going to refreeze and create
black ice and hazardous
roadways for the next couple of
days.”
Officials urge drivers to use
caution, particularly during
overnight and early morning
hours when refreezing is most
likely.
Meadows said conditions
should begin to improve Sunday
afternoon as temperatures climb
back above freezing. A warming
trend is expected to follow, with
highs reaching the 30s and 40s
into next week.
“Once Sunday afternoon is
here, we are going to be on a
warming trend with
temperatures up in the 30s and
40s for the rest of the week,” said
Meadows. “And then we have a
low chance of showers
approaching the area Wednesday
and Thursday of next week.”
Despite the gradual warmup,
Meadows noted that snow and
ice currently on the ground are
expected to linger through the
weekend and into early next
week.
Garbage service
City and county officials have
placed large dumpsters
throughout the area until
garbage pickup can resume once
the streets and county roads are
in better shape.
FC Public Works Director
Darin Flenoy said his
department is going to try to
resume pickup on Monday, but that decision will depend on how
much the streets are cleared by
that time.
St. Francis County Judge Craig
Jones suspended all county
garbage pickup for this week and
is hoping to also be able to
resume the service on Monday.
However, the weekend
forecast is not looking like the
temperatures will warm much.
“We’re going to try to clear a
path at Ridout and at the Civic
Center so our residents can take
trash to one of those locations if
they’re able to get to them,” said
Flenoy.
He said he’s hopeful
operations can resume soon.
“We’re hoping to resume
pickup on Monday next week
and we’re going to push as hard
as we can, Lord willing,” said
Flenoy. “We’re asking people to
please be patients with us. We’re
only humans and we have to
depend on a lot of machinery
that tends to break down here
and there. Got knows best and
this will get out of here in time.”
Flenoy said that city pickup is
only the beginning of the
process, adding that whether or
not area landfills can accept the
garbage the city is able to get is
another piece of the puzzle.
“We’re going to work overtime
to get caught up once this stuff
clears out of here. We just don’t
know for sure when that will be,”
added Flenoy.
Jones said large dumpsters
have also been placed in
Goodwin and Widener and
another is located behind the
courthouse for anyone who
needs to use it.