LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A person who jumped into the Little Red River in southwestern Arkansas in an effort to avoid a skidding 18-wheler remained missing Sunday as another winter storm headed toward the state.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department joined Hempstead and Miller county authorities in the search for the missing person, whose name was not released, in the river near Fulton, according to Arkansas Game and Fish Commission spokesman Keith Stephens.
“They’re out in boats, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is using a side-scan sonar boat,” to aid in the search, Stephens said.
Fog, mist and temperatures in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees were reported in the area Sunday, according to the National Weather Service, but no hazardous weather was in the forecast.
However, the next system that’ll bring wintry precipitation to the state was expected to start Monday afternoon, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Buonanno in Little Rock.
A winter storm watch has been issued for Monday afternoon and night for roughly three-fourths of the state. The snow was expected to begin falling in western Arkansas late Monday morning, the weather service said, and increase in intensity as system moves eastward.
“The real accumulation activity will occur during the afternoon Monday,” Buonanno said, from western to central Arkansas, with two to four inches of snow forecast. Another .1 to .2 of an inch of ice was possible across southern Arkansas.
“We’re still looking at that,” forecast, Buonanno said.
The weather service said the areas affected would generally be along a line south of Harrison to Evening Shade, to north of Glenwood to Hampton.
Some relief from the persistent winter storms was expected to begin as early as Wednesday, with skies clearing and temperatures gradually warming first into the 40s.
“It does look like … a warming trend during the end of the week, temperatures in the mid-50s to lower 60s for the end week and into the weekend,” Buonanno said.
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