textproduct: Little Rock

KEY MESSAGES

Issued at 1252 AM CDT Tue Apr 28 2026

- One more round of strong to severe thunderstorms expected across a large part of Arkansas on Tuesday afternoon.

- A cold front will push through the state Tuesday night switching winds to the north/northwest and bringing in cooler and drier air.

- High pressure will keep the state dry through at least Thursday, then rain chances return to the state next weekend.

- Above normal temperatures today, then temperatures will trend a few degrees below normal before trending to around normal through the rest of the period.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 1252 AM CDT Tue Apr 28 2026

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms currently over parts of north central, eastern, and northeast Arkansas are expected to move out of the area within the next few hours. Beyond the storms that took place over northern half of the state, the rest of the state with the exception of an few isolated showers remained dry on Monday. Temperatures on Tuesday morning will bottom out in the upper 50s across parts of north and northwest Arkansas and 60s everywhere else.

Attention turns to Tuesday for another round of strong to severe thunderstorms. A short wave currently over the Rockies will push across the state ahead of the cold front Tuesday afternoon and evening. Ahead of the shortwave/front, the environment across the state is expected to be very unstable with CAPE values in excess of 2500-3500J/kg with the highest instability across the central and southern part of the state. Models also show bulk shear values of 50-60kt with very steep lapse rates. The primary hazards will large to very large hail, damaging winds, with a few tornado also not out of the question. The cold front that has lingered over the central/southern Plains west of the state will push into the state Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. The front will bring a brief shoot of cooler and drier air with high temperatures running roughly 5 to 10 degrees below normal through Friday.

Dry weather is expected Wednesday into Thursday, a series of weak disturbances will bring rain chances to the southern half of Arkansas as early as Thursday night through Saturday. After Saturday, a brief dry period on Monday before another cold front pushes south out of the central Plains bringing more rain chances into the state.

AVIATION

(00Z TAFS) Issued at 616 PM CDT Tue Apr 28 2026

Generally poor flight conditions expected through the early morning hours Wednesday. A cold front will work its way E/SE across the state through the evening and overnight hours with scattered TS activity developing along it. MVFR and lower cigs/vsby will likely persist through 12z with some terminals beginning to improve to VFR before the end of the period. Behind the front winds will turn out of the north at less than 10 kts.

PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS

Batesville AR 58 73 50 70 / 40 10 10 10 Camden AR 63 75 55 70 / 60 40 40 20 Harrison AR 53 69 45 67 / 20 10 0 10 Hot Springs AR 59 74 52 68 / 50 30 20 10 Little Rock AR 61 74 52 70 / 60 20 20 10 Monticello AR 65 77 56 72 / 70 40 40 10 Mount Ida AR 58 73 52 68 / 30 20 20 10 Mountain Home AR 53 70 46 68 / 30 10 0 10 Newport AR 61 72 51 69 / 50 10 10 0 Pine Bluff AR 63 74 53 69 / 70 30 30 10 Russellville AR 58 73 52 69 / 30 10 10 10 Searcy AR 59 74 50 70 / 50 10 10 10 Stuttgart AR 64 73 54 69 / 70 20 20 10

LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

None.