Arkansas Weather March 3 Evening - Thunderstorms Starting 5 PM

Good evening. Arkansas. I'm Aaron Jolly. Folks, if you stepped outside today and thought. Did we skip straight to May? You're not wrong. Arkansas is sitting at 74 degrees right now under clear skies. That's nearly 48 degrees warmer than where we started this morning. A southerly flow is pumping Gulf air straight up through the state. That's your engine behind all this warmth. In the next 24 hours. Central Arkansas topped out at 79 degrees today. Felt like a gift. Tonight, clouds roll in and lows settle around 61. Enjoy the calm evening. Because this is the last quiet night for a while. Now head northwest to Fayetteville. That's where things get interesting first. Storms develop after 9 P.M. Tonight. About a coin flip chance, so keep radar handy if you're out late. Wednesday is the main event. Storms likely all day with a high near 69 degrees. Some could pack large hail and damaging winds. Wednesday night stays active with lows near 57. Over in northeast Arkansas, today reached 76 degrees. A slight chance of showers pops up around 11 A.M. Wednesday. Storm chances climb Wednesday night with lows near 64. So what's the bigger picture this week? An active pattern locks in Wednesday and doesn't let go through the weekend. Multiple rounds of storms are coming. Western and northern Arkansas could see 2 to 4 inches of rain total. Temperatures stay stubbornly warm. Mid 70s to low 80s through the weekend. Friday might be the warmest day we've seen since last fall. One more thing worth noting. The full moon rises at sunset tonight. We're gaining over two minutes of daylight each day now. Spring equinox is just two weeks out. The atmosphere clearly got the memo early. Charge your devices tonight and double check those weather alerts. Wednesday demands your attention. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.