TEXARKANA - Texarkana received between 18 and 20 inches of snow during last week's two winter storms with some locations just northeast of the city receiving between 20 and 22 inches.
The official snow accumulations were included in a weather summary released by the National Weather Service in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Portions of Texarkana received about 10 inches during the first storm. Areas in south Texarkana, Arkansas, along with Fouke, Arkansas, received more than eight inches during the second storm and south Texarkana, Texas, received 10.5 inches, according to the summary.
The air mass was one of the coldest air masses to ever reach the region and, for some locations, it was the coldest ever.
In the first phase of this event, the area encountered two minor freezing drizzle events on the morning of Feb. 12 and again on Feb. 13.
These events led to minor icing on bridges and elevated roadways each day.
Interstate 49 north of Shreveport was closed on Friday in anticipation of freezing drizzle Saturday morning.
During the early hours of Sunday, the first of two major winter storms began to push into the region, bringing a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain to the area, with the heaviest snowfall occurring Sunday night into the morning hours of Monday.
Texarkana broke a daily record on Feb. 16 with a low of minus-1 degrees Fahrenheit. The previous low was 9 degrees in 1903.
By the evening hours on Feb. 16 the second winter storm began to push into the area from the northwest. This event brought a more confined corridor of heavy snow to Northeast Texas and Southwest Arkansas.
By the time the second winter storm left the area, locations in southwestern Arkansas and northeastern Texas reported as much as 18-22 inches of snow from the two events combined. Further south to the Interstate 20 corridor, most areas were hit with at least 4 inches of snow, sleet and ice-covered roads.
Recovery was slow as treacherous roads slowed recovery crews fixing water main breaks and restoring power.
Atlanta, Texas, received 7.5 inches during the first storm and 7.3 during the second storm, according to the summary.
Hempstead County, Arkansas, received 9 inches during the first storm and 11.5 during the second. Howard County, Arkansas, received 7.5 inches during the first storm and 4 inches during the second.
Most areas remained below freezing until Friday.
This led to widespread water main breaks and major pipe bursts from southwestern Arkansas to northwestern Louisiana and westward into East Texas and Deep East Texas.