Arctic Air blasts Arkansas this weekend; freezing rain and heavy rainfall early next week

From the National Weather Service in Little Rock

Arctic air is arriving from the Plains Friday morning. A gusty northwest wind will produce wind chill index values from zero to ten below zero in the northern two to three rows of counties in Arkansas. 

Below to much below normal temperatures will continue through the weekend. Saturday will be the coldest day, with lows in the single digits and teens and highs in the 20s and 30s. Minimum wind chill indices will be in the single digits above and below zero Friday night into Saturday morning. 

Late Sunday night and Monday, Arctic air will begin exiting to the east. Clouds and moisture will increase, with rain developing. Precipitation will likely start off as freezing rain, with the potential for at least a tenth of an inch of ice in northern/western sections of the state. 

Rain will continue through at least Thursday. The forecast calls for one to more than three inches of rain across the region, with the heaviest amounts over the southern counties.

Another arctic air blast coming our way; Winter Weather Briefing from the NWS

Pockets of very light freezing rain are expected in portions of central and eastern Arkansas this morning. A light glaze of ice is possible in places. Amounts will be on the order of a trace to a few hundredths of an inch.  A Winter Weather Advisory has been posted. 

Another round of Arctic air will arrive Thursday night/Friday, and will stay with us through the weekend. The magnitude of this surge of cold air will not rival what we have experienced lately, but temperatures will be well below normal. Saturday will be the coldest day with temperatures starting to recover Sunday. 

As Arctic air exits to the east early next week, moisture will increase across the Plains. Rain will likely develop across the region on Monday, and may begin as a period of freezing rain in the morning. At this time, it appears some icing is possible, especially in western sections of the state.

Winter Weather Briefing and road conditions for Arkansas from the National Weather Service and IDriveArkansas

• Snow has let up over most of the northern half of Arkansas. Another round of snow and sleet is expected to develop across the southern half of the state, with additional accumulations of 0.5” to 1” possible through this afternoon.

• Travel impacts (including hazardous road conditions and reduced visibilities) will be possible where snowfall or sleet occurs, including major throughways, bridges/overpasses, and rural roads.

• Bitterly cold temperatures, much below climatological averages, are expected to continue through at least Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning. Temperatures have fallen to single digits to below-zero in portions of northern Arkansas, and daily high temperatures will likely not rise above freezing again until Wednesday afternoon (at the earliest) for most areas of the state.

• Morning minimum wind chill values will remain below zero degrees over a large portion of Arkansas, and persist at hazardous levels through at least Wednesday morning due to abundant Arctic air and breezy conditions.

• A brief reprieve from below-normal temperatures will resume on Wednesday and Thursday, and another shot of Arctic air is forecast to move into the region by late this week, bringing more belownormal temps through this coming weekend.