A winter storm that will bring a good chance of wintry precipitation and send lows into the teens and single digits is headed Pine Bluff’s way, pushing the Street Department into action and opening wide the doors to a warming center.
Tiger Dockett, Pine Bluff’s Street Department superintendent, said his crews will be ready starting Friday night and will work as necessary across the weekend.
“We’ll have two to three crews per shift,” he said Wednesday. “A crew is a salt truck and trucks behind them for traffic control and an excavator. By Thursday, we will have everyone lined out on when they will need to be available.”
Friday’s start will not be unusual with a high around 39 degrees, but that night, temps will dip to 15 degrees with a 60% chance of precipitation that could develop into 1 to 3 inches of snow and ice, according to online weather apps. For those exposed to the outdoors, the low temperature will be accompanied by a 10-20 mph wind, making the air feel like a few degrees below zero.
“We’ll keep an eye on things,” Dockett said. “When we see the snow start building up, we’ll start scraping, focusing initially on the main thoroughfares to make sure emergency routes are open. When we get the upper hand on those areas, we can branch out to secondary avenues.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The powerful winter blast is part of a huge storm that will stretch for 2,000 miles, from the southwest to the east, bringing snow and ice that is predicted to bring down trees and power lines and cause life-threatening cold temperatures.
Saturday’s high here will only be 22 degrees with the low again pegged at 15. The chance of precipitation is 100% with a prediction for accumulations of 1 to 3 inches — quite a bit less than many forecasts predicted on Tuesday when as much as 8 inches was thought to be coming. Saturday evening will see a chance of precipitation of 90%.
On Sunday, the high is predicted to be 25 degrees with a low of 9 and a chance of snow at 50% and a predicted accumulation of less than an inch.
Little by little, in the following days, the highs aren’t quite so low and the lows will be pushing into the 20s.
Dockett said the brunt of the weather will hit over the weekend when traffic is low.
“That is a real benefit here,” he said, adding, however, that the cold temps will likely keep any frozen precipitation around into Monday and Tuesday, meaning his crews may still be working extra hours then as well.
Opportunity House, a homeless shelter, will also be brought into service as a warming center, which is the result of the city and shelter officials working together, according to Mayor Vivian Flowers.
“The City of Pine Bluff and Opportunity House have worked aggressively and tirelessly to ensure that our most vulnerable residents are protected from the extreme weather events that we are all bracing ourselves for this week,” Flowers said. “And we are grateful that our dedicated essential personnel consistently keep our residents, property and streets safe during these events, year in and year out.”
The shelter is located at 1305 E. Sixth Ave. and is open from 6 p.m. until 8 a.m. Volunteers and donations are needed, according to a post on the city’s Facebook page. For more information or to volunteer, call the shelter at 870-569-3130.