More Rain. More Storms

9:10PM Wednesday update... I still think a few strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible Saturday morning into the early afternoon. The threat should be out of Arkansas by 3 or 4PM. Timing can always change.

There will be a tremendous amount of wind with this system. If a storm can tap into those winds, gusts could easily exceed 60mph within a storm. We can also never rule out a tornado or two in this environment, but high winds will be the big threat.

Going against a large amount of severe weather will be the lack of instability. Clouds and rain could decrease the fuel needed for these storms.

Also, winds NOT associated with storms could exceed 40mph. Since the ground is saturated, trees can easily fall. A few power outages can be expected due to this. For more info, read the blog post below. Stay with Channel 7!

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As the Carpenter's sang, "We've Only Just Begun".

First, I want to recap the past few days. I'm very proud of our team of meteorologists with the call for only ice in northern Arkansas yesterday (Tuesday). It's something we never wavered on since the middle of last week. Also, our call for small hail and unusually loud thunder worked out quite well with that dynamic system Tuesday. As always, thank you for your trust!!!!

From last week....

Meteorologist James Bryant fine tuned our map from last week and posted this last Saturday. Superb job!

Now onto the next few waves of rain and storms. Rain will once again increase Thursday afternoon and evening and pick up in coverage and intensity Friday. Flooding will once again become an issue. Then the system gets a kick to the east Saturday and much of the state has a risk for some severe weather. While severe weather is certainly possible, flash flooding will be an issue too.

An additional 1-3'' of rainfall will be likely between Thursday and Saturday. There are indications we will have isolated higher amounts too. Flash flooding possible and watches will likely be required again.

Now onto my thoughts for strong to severe storms Saturday:

- This will affect much of the Channel 7 viewing area Saturday morning into the early afternoon. That's not ideal for severe weather since it's not during the heating of the day. HOWEVER, that does not mean we're out of the woods. Severe weather is still possible, but maybe not as widespread as it might be if it moved in later in the day.

-Instability will be tempered by rain and clouds. However, there will be plenty of wind energy with this system

-Damaging winds will be the primary threat for any severe weather. A tornado or two can't be ruled out.

-Strong westerly and southwesterly winds will push very dry air into the state from west to east Saturday afternoon. This MIGHT cause temperatures to spike into the 70s behind the storms. That will be something interesting to watch.