Hurricane Dorian and Arkansas
Hurricane Dorian may have an impact on Arkansas weather, but not in the way you would think. Typically, if a tropical system tracks towards Arkansas, rain and wind would be an issue. In the case of Dorian, it's hot and dry weather.
If this does become a strong hurricane, there could be significant subsidence in a large area surrounding the storm. This is sinking air which leads to lower humidity and hotter temperatures. Could we make a run at 100° later next week? I have doubts about it, but mid 90s may come back briefly. Remember, the latest 1st 100° day in Little Rock is September 6th, 1922. If this storm developed a couple weeks earlier and we didn't have as much soil moisture, I would say 100° would be a strong possibility.
I'll never forget hurricane Floyd moving up the east coast of the United States many years ago. It didn't make landfall, but the sinking air around the storm caused a huge burst of heat. Before I came home in 2005, I was working in Chattanooga, TN and remember the mercury climbing well into the 90s to near 100 in September as the storm passed by well east in the Atlantic.
If the storm isn't all that strong, then the heat impact will be very minimal for us. Also, there's always an outside chance this tracks even further west and brings us rain. However, at this time, I think that chance is extremely low and this storm will recurve well east of Arkansas keeping us on the dry side.
