Heat Advisories continue for Arkansas and surrounding states

...A HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING... AND WILL LIKELY CONTINUE EACH DAY THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND TO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK.

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for south central Arkansas, southwest Arkansas, north central Louisiana, northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, east Texas and northeast Texas.

Hot temperatures and high humidity will bring dangerous levels of heat to the region through the weekend. Heat index values will likely climb above 105 degrees in most locations.

* WHAT...Heat index values up to 109 are expected.

* WHERE...Portions of south-central and southwest Arkansas, north-central and northwest Louisiana, southeast Oklahoma, and east and northeast Texas.

Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors. Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in shaded or air-conditioned environments to reduce risk during outdoor work. Anyone overcome by heat should be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an emergency! Call 9 1 1.

National Weather Service says heat advisories and excessive heat warnings likely issued this week

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Ridging is expected to continue to shift eastward and have more of a grip on our region by Tuesday night and really continue well into next weekend. In response to this, afternoon temperatures from Wednesday through Saturday will range from the upper 90s to lower 100s each day across the region, possibly getting slightly warmer each day into the weekend. Sounds amazing right? In addition to that, heat index values will be at or well above the Heat Advisory criteria of 105 degrees each day. The only real concern for each day of the week will be where we place the Heat Advisory versus the Excessive Heat Warning each day as the location of the hottest heat indices could vary at times. Not much rain to speak of for the long-term portion of the forecast period unfortunately aside from any diurnal convection during the afternoon hours. Long range models do show a potential for some rainfall Sunday into Monday as the ridge looks to retrograde to the west slightly and our area returns to northwest flow aloft.

Dangerous heat for Arkansas this week

We are expecting dangerous heat to build throughout the duration of the week. It will be imperative, especially as we near the middle of the week, that any location lacking electricity and/or access to air conditioning will be at a greater risk for heat-related illnesses.

High Temperatures and dangerous heat index values will increase for the duration of the week across Arkansas.

• The most concerning days for heat-related illnesses will be on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday where both the air temperature and dewpoint temperature will increase.

• The reason will be a warm front lifting through the state on Wednesday leaving a more moist airmass across the state in its wake.

An excessive heat warning and the possibility for severe weather in Arkansas on Sunday

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK - Attached is an update to the briefing that was issued. The severe weather outlook area has been greatly expanded with more of the state now in the slight risk area. The other noteworthy change is that heat advisories have been issued for Sunday.