The National Weather Service predicts our area will be impacted by Laura this week.
We wanted to send everyone a quick "heads-up" email about the upcoming potential for impacts from Tropical Storm Laura. At this time, we don't anticipate much in the way of impacts from Hurricane Marco, which is expected to come ashore across southeast Louisiana Monday. However. some uncertainty does remain with the eventual impacts of Marco.
Probably the most important piece of information and why we haven't sent any emails previously is that forecast information has remained inconsistent in terms of where we believe each of the storms will make landfall. From there, the northward path inland of the storms continues to vary as well.
Now, regarding the second storm, Laura. According to the National Hurricane Center and other forecast information, the latest data leads us to believe Laura will make landfall along the upper Texas/Louisiana coast area as a category 2 hurricane Wednesday into Wednesday night. It will then track along the TX/LA border Thursday, making its way into north-central Arkansas Friday morning.
With this track being utilized, the heaviest rainfall amounts will occur across southwest into central portions of the state. Sustained winds across much of southern into central Arkansas could be in the 25-35 mph range with higher gusts. Lastly, with the storm tracking north from southwest to north central Arkansas, all but far western Arkansas could potentially see a threat for isolated tornadoes.
With all this being said, significant changes to impacts may still occur depending on the path it takes. The potential for the path of this storm ranges anywhere from eastern Oklahoma to western Mississippi, with Arkansas in the middle. Due to this uncertainty, please monitor the latest forecast information and we will keep everyone updated in the coming days as often as we can.
(See the attached images for the latest information about the potential track, rainfall and potential for strong winds.)
-NWS Little Rock
