FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Icy blasts tugged temperatures to well below zero in chunks of the South early today, leaving ranchers and farmers fretting about their animals after a winter storm dropped 2 feet of snow on parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma and left at least three people dead.

Forecasters predicted lows of minus 11 degrees in northwest Arkansas and minus 10 degrees in parts of Oklahoma. But by early morning, temperatures had dipped to minus 18 in Fayetteville and to minus 27 in Bartlesville, Okla., according to the National Weather Service.

The frigid temperatures followed a powerful blizzard that howled through the nation’s midsection Wednesday and made its way into the Deep South, where it brought a mix of rain and snow.

The heaviest snow was concentrated in the northeast corner of Oklahoma, where the towns of Colcord and Spavinaw got 22 and 23 inches, respectively.

Two people died in separate traffic accidents Wednesday along a snow-covered highway in Arkansas, and another woman was killed when she lost control of her vehicle in Springfield, Mo.

The fresh snow was especially troublesome in Tulsa, Okla., where many roads were still impassable from last week’s record 14-inch snowfall. The previous storm kept students out of school for at least six days.