01/27/2026
1983 ! Will it freeze again?
The Arkansas River froze over in 1983 -- and that's not the first time it happened.
In December of 1983, the Arkansas River froze on the surface in Little Rock. There was a prolonged arctic air intrusion and in both Fayetteville and Little Rock, temperatures stayed below freezing from Dec. 19th until the end of the year.
It was so COLD, some people didn't have electricity for weeks! Little Rock had high temps of only 10 and 12 degrees on Christmas Eve/Day. And the highs that week average 15 degrees with lows of barely about 3 degrees on average.
The roads were solid ice, but it wasn't not too cold for duck hunting.. Some state official (like parks and tourism director) decided to go duck hunting on the river. They followed the path of a barge that had busted up some of the ice. Their duck boat became frozen in the middle of the river and they had to be rescued.
Boats at the Marina sank due to ice busting through the hull. Boat owners later had to hire divers to go down and strap inflatable balloons to bring our boat back up. It was horrible for them!
But, that's not the first time it happened. In the winter of 1875-1876, Arkansans had to use tools to break up the ice to allow boats to pass. And in 1912, the ice was so solid that people could actually walk on the river in Pine Bluff.
The Arkansas River froze in January 1918 when the temperature plunged to zero. Eight inches of snow had fallen on January 10-11 preceding the plunge. At that time in 1918 there was not a system of locks on the river so it was not very deep. The ice was thick enough for people to walk or skate, and ice fish!
The Arkansas River also partially froze in 1977; the river was 9 feet deep and flowed about 5-6 miles per hour. So although a rare occurance, it happens more than you think.
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(This post falls under the Fair Use Act of 1976 for media publication.)
