Arkansas could see strong to severe storms | Here’s what you need to know
Strong to severe storms could impact some parts of Arkansas through the weekend. Here’s what you need to know.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The weather across Arkansas will become more active going into the weekend as storms will be organized.
Storms will develop in Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas on Thursday night and Friday night.
These storms are expected to merge into a line and become a “Mesoscale Convective System” or MCS. This is a line of storms that generally are capable of producing damaging winds, heavy rain, and are filled with lightning.
What should I expect?
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of Arkansas under a level two out of five risk of severe weather for both Friday and Saturday. This is also known as a slight risk.
The main threats from storms will be gusty to possibly damaging winds and dime to quarter-sized hail.
The tornado threat is a slim chance but a quick tornado embedded within a line of storms can’t be ruled out.
Other threats are an abundance of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes.
Remember, a storm does not need to be severe to produce a deadly lightning strike. A storm can produce a lightning strike five to 10 miles away from the rain.
Therefore, if you hear thunder, get indoors or to a safe place as soon as possible. Don’t wait for the lightning to get close,
Flash flooding of smaller creeks or rivers will be possible as this cluster of storms can produce copious amounts of rainfall in a short amount of time.
If you are camping close to a river, make sure you have several ways of getting warning notifications of flooding.
Where will the storms happen?
The exact placement of the strength of these systems is difficult to forecast.
At this time, it appears the highest threat of severe weather will be in Northwest and West Arkansas.
Current weather information is highlighting the chance of the line weakening on Friday morning as it moves into Central Arkansas. However, this forecast may change. So make sure you stay updated with the latest forecast.
If this forecast is correct, we should see plenty of dry time on Friday afternoon with the temperatures warming up close to 90 degrees and humid. The chance of a spotty shower or storm popping up in Central Arkansas is low on Friday afternoon into the evening.
What will the weekend be like?
However, another complex of storms will sweep through on Saturday morning. Once again, at this time, the best chance of rain and thunder is in the morning, which may impact any outdoor events.
On Sunday, the chance of rain has dropped to 30 percent or lower as new weather information shows a decreasing trend.
The weekend will not be a washout, but make sure you are following the radar and be ready to duck indoors, especially if the line of storms holds together on Friday and Saturday morning.