Arkansas Weather March 5 Morning - Thunderstorms Starting 6 AM

Good morning. Arkansas. I'm Aaron Jolly. Step outside right now and you'll feel 66 degrees. At dawn. That's 35 degrees warmer than early March should be. The overnight low? Also 66. The temperature never budged. In the next 24 hours. We're locked in a humid, stormy pattern. Showers and thunderstorms are already rolling through the northern half of the state. Up in Northeast Arkansas, thunderstorms dominate the morning — 80 percent chance. You'll hit 75 degrees by afternoon. Northwest Arkansas gets the same treatment. Storms through midday, then they ease off. Highs reach 71. Central Arkansas catches a slight break. Rain chances sit at 60 percent this morning, then storms fade. Highs surge to 79 degrees. That's just 35 degrees shy of Little Rock's record for today. Tonight, clouds part a bit. Lows only drop to the low 60s. And if you're out after dark, look up — it's a Full Moon. Friday brings round two. Strong to severe thunderstorms fire up, especially across western and northern Arkansas. Damaging winds and large hail are the main threats. Highs climb into the upper 70s to low 80s. We could break records. The weekend stays messy. Saturday brings more storms statewide. Sunday finally dries out with highs in the 60s and 70s. Looking ahead, another system rolls in Tuesday into Wednesday. More rain, more storms, then a real cooldown by midweek. Highs drop into the 60s with lows in the 40s. We're gaining over two minutes of daylight each day now. Spring equinox is two weeks out. But today? Feels like we skipped ahead a month. If storms fire up near you tomorrow, have a plan. Charging your phone now beats scrambling later. For the extended outlook, check the latest forecast as confidence improves. That's your forecast — we'll be back tomorrow.