Arkansas Weather March 4 Evening - Severe Thunderstorm Watch

Good evening. Arkansas. I'm Aaron Jolly. Step outside and you might think April came early. We're sitting at 71 degrees under clear skies, running a solid 45 degrees warmer than usual for early March. It's a beautiful spring preview, but don't let that sunshine fool you. We've a **severe thunderstorm watch** in effect until **11 P.M.** for parts of western Arkansas, including Logan. Polk. Scott. And Yell counties. In the next 24 hours. Here's the timeline for your night. Northwest Arkansas gets the first round. Thunderstorms become likely after **8 P.M.**, peaking right around **9 P.M.** with a 90 percent chance. Some of those storms could pack a punch with large hail and damaging winds. You'll stay mild tonight with a low around 56. Central Arkansas, the action rolls in later. You're in the clear until after **11 P.M.**, with storms peaking around midnight. Rain is likely. And you'll only drop to about 63 degrees. Up in the northeast corner, the worst holds off until the early morning. Expect thunderstorms between 45 degrees and **5 A.M.**, with lows staying near 64. Thursday brings a quick break. Storms taper off by mid-morning. And the sun fights back. Little Rock surges to near 79 degrees. That's flirting with record territory. The northwest cools to 71. And the northeast hits 75. Looking ahead, the pattern stays active. Friday into Saturday brings another round of storms. And we could see two to three inches of rain by the weekend. Temperatures cool down slightly for Sunday and Monday before climbing back up. Keep those weather radios handy tonight. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.