Serious storms and heavy rain probably Saturday, winter weather and extreme cold weave

The next 7 days will be crazy for Weather Arkansas. We will have a risk of heavy rain and serious storms on Saturday, then cold air arrives just in time for the next wave of rainfall.

First up is the threat of heavy rain and potential serious storms on Saturday. Rain developed late Friday night to Saturday morning with chances that continue through the rest of Saturday.

Later in the day, the heaviest rain falls along and east of I-30 and US 67. Widespread 1 to 3 inches of precipitation Sotals are seen. Some areas south and east of Little Rock can receive more than 4 inches of rain.

Flash flooding will be possible in areas that get the heaviest rain. A flooding watch is already out for parts of Central and East Arkansas in anticipation of rounds with potentially heavy rainfall on Saturday. A few warnings about flooding of flash are likely to be issued on Saturday afternoon.

When storms begin to move into southeastern Arkansas, they can intensify and become severe Saturday afternoon.

The biggest risk will be high wind, but cannot rule out the possibility of an isolated tornado or two.

A number of storms must be realized in the early afternoon across parts of central Arkansas and then quickly run away to the east. This storm line will have the greatest risk of having strong for heavy storms capable of producing high winds and an isolated tornado.

The serious threat ends on Saturday night with cooler air moving into Arkansas. When cold air gets into the state by Tuesday, the chances of winter weather go up Tuesday to Wednesday.

Currently, it is too early to speculate on amounts of winter precipitation, but North Arkansas will be preferred for snow. Central and South Arkansas will be preferred for a mixture of precipitation types.

Even with uncertainty about quantities and precipitation types, any snow or ice will cause travel effects with Arctic air in place.

As winter precipitation departs the state on Wednesday, very cold air will settle in Arkansas.

Some places may remain under freezing from 24 to 72 hours. Low temperatures probably reach the individual digits on Wednesday and Thursday night with wind cooling at or below zero.

Please check back for the forecast updates as we deal with storms and winter weather over the next week. KATV -weather team updates the prognosis with new information several times a day!