Officials at Arkansas State University have changed the regularly scheduled move-in day for students as Jonesboro and the surrounding area prepares for inclement winter weather over the weekend.
On Tuesday, A-State posted on Facebook that the residence halls will now open on Thursday at 9 a.m. to allow students to move-in before the weather impacts travel conditions. The National Weather Service in Memphis issued a Winter Weather Watch for 6 p.m. Thursday through Friday night. Forecasters said up to 6 inches could fall in some spots by 6 a.m. Saturday.
A-State students were originally scheduled to move into the residence halls on Friday and classes for the Spring 2025 semester are expected to start on Monday, Jan. 13. However, forecasters are predicting between 3 and 5 inches of snow to fall in the watch area, which includes Craighead, Greene, Mississippi Counties in Arkansas and Dunklin and Pemiscot Counties in Missouri.
Todd Clark, A-State Chief Communications Officer, told KASU News in a statement that campus residents have also been individually notified. Clark said that they are also working to share the university's inclement weather policies.
Much of Arkansas is forecasted to receive up to 5 inches or more of snow later this week with temperatures expected to stay at or below freezing. The City of Jonesboro has opened several warming shelters in anticipation of the inclement weather. A full list and operation times of the shelters can be found here.
Update 1/9/25
A-State's Office of Emergency Management has a new link tree with links to resources. The link tree is at https://linktr.ee/AStateWinterWx
