I can't believe it has been 30 years since the epic outbreak of arctic air. The likelihood we will ever see something as extreme as December 1983 is very slim. The cold started to set in around mid month and lasted until the end of the year. The actual air temperature in Little Rock would never rise above freezing from late on December 18th until December 31st. The prolong and extreme nature to the cold air is what makes this event historical. Many remember how the Arkansas River froze over and you can see that video below from our KATV video archive.
I remember this arctic outbreak very well as we had a solid layer of ice and snow on the ground for Christmas.
Do you remember this? If so, share your memories in the comment section. Have pictures? Send them to weather@katv.com
8 comments:
Todd thanks for all you do on this Arkansas Weather Blog! You can just about bet on Todd having an update when there is big weather events coming. Hope to meet you someday!
Todd-I remember the cold wave of Dec 1983 very well. The ice capped snow that made even front yards hard to walk like sidewalks. The high temperature of 10 degrees on Christmas Eve followed by a high of 12 on Christmas day.
I remember December, 1983 well. My dad had a heart attack and the paramedics and firefighters could barely get up the hill to my house, much less get the gurney to the ambulance. It was scary.
I was 11 years old at the time, but I remember it well. We lived in rural Southwest Arkansas. The ice knock our electricity out for almost 2 weeks. I remember we had well water and had to go to my grandparent's house to get baths since no electricity = no pump to get water into the house. I remember Christmas Eve/Day being very treacherous. I can still picture my grandma and grandpa getting out of their car and slipping and sliding in the driveway.
I guess this must have been the Christmas we couldn't get from Fayetteville to Fordyce for Christmas, so my Daddy loaded presents from everyone into his Jeep and made his way to Fayetteville so he wouldn't miss Christmas with us. My sister and I always remembered that as the best Christmas!
How is it the only white Christmas you've ever experienced in Arkansas? What about last year???
I was in Germany that year, but I remember calling home and my parents talking about the cold and the frozen water pipes.
The year before, Christmas Eve of 1982, was another severe weather winter, with devastating tornadoes in Malvern, and other areas of the state.
I recall that extremely cold air in eighty-three. I was carpooling to work in central Ar. When our shift ended my friends truck had slushy oil in the crankcase and pouring oil into the engine was the kind of slow motion right out of the twighlight zone!
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