Arkansas Weather March 3 Evening - Thunderstorms Starting 5 PM

Good evening. Arkansas. I'm Aaron Jolly. Step outside and you might think we skipped a few pages on the calendar. We're sitting at 71 degrees right now under clear skies. That's about 48 degrees warmer than we would expect for early March. The spring equinox is still two weeks away, but nobody told the atmosphere. In the next 24 hours. Tonight stays mild with lows around 61 degrees across most of the state. Clouds will thicken up as a front approaches from the northwest. Wednesday turns active. Central Arkansas climbs to 79 degrees with just a slight chance of storms after noon. Head north and the story changes. Northwest Arkansas sees storms developing by morning, some possibly severe, with an 80 percent chance by afternoon. Gusts could hit 30 miles an hour. Northeast Arkansas reaches 76 degrees with scattered showers and storms developing through the day. Wednesday night is when things get noisy. Thunderstorms become likely statewide. Northwest Arkansas has the highest severe weather potential, with large hail and damaging winds the main threats. Looking ahead, this unsettled pattern sticks around. Multiple rounds of storms roll through Friday into the weekend. We could see two to four inches of rain across western and northern Arkansas by the time it's all said and done. Temperatures stay well above normal, with highs in the upper 70s to near 80 through early next week. One more thing — tonight's full moon will be rising around sunset. If you want to enjoy it, step outside before those clouds thicken up later tonight. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.