Arkansas Storm Team Forecast: Heavy rain and strong storms likely Wednesday

WEDNESDAY MORNING: Widespread rainfall will keep us soggy across much of central, northern and western Arkansas Wednesday morning. Eastern Arkansas may stay dry at first, but showers and storms will work their way east later in the day.

So all of Arkansas should keep the rain gear handy. Temperatures will be in the 50s through the morning, reaching 60 around midday.

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON: Widespread rain continues in these same areas through early afternoon. But also around midday, a stronger round of storms will evolve before spreading east in the late-afternoon and early evening. In the meantime, temperatures reach into the mid and upper 60s. Wind will stay strong through the day, likely from the south between 10 and 20 mph.

As these storms move through central, southern and eastern Arkansas, they will tap into enough energy to produce some damaging straight line wind, hail and perhaps even an isolated tornado. We’ll be monitoring this situation closely through the day.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT & OVERNIGHT: These strong to severe storms continue through eastern Arkansas early in the evening. But by late-evening, they’ll be moving out. Any lingering showers will come to an end as well.

Wind will be strong out of the west between 15 and 25 mph. Skies gradually clear out after midnight. Temperatures slip into the lower 40s by Thursday morning.

THURSDAY & BEYOND: Wind will calm down Thursday morning and skies will be clear. We’ll see plenty of sunshine during the day Thursday with highs in the lower 60s.

Friday will bring another system to Arkansas, which could have some impacts as well. While this system brings less moisture, it will likely bring just enough to produce some scattered showers across central Arkansas. Highs will be in the upper 40s.

But with this same system, our higher elevations could be in for a little snowfall. At this point, details are a bit unclear. Considering road temperatures will likely be rather warm, we don’t anticipate major impacts. But we’ll iron through the details and get an updated blog post coming soon.