Area Forecast Discussion
Issued by NWS Little Rock, AR
Issued by NWS Little Rock, AR
Versions:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
500 FXUS64 KLZK 201715 AAA AFDLZK Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Little Rock AR 1115 AM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 130 AM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 - Areas of dense fog are expected across north central into northeast Arkansas this morning along and north of warm front - Storm system set to impact Arkansas from the plains today and linger into Friday; the system should bring beneficial rainfall - Additional round of unsettled weather expected Sunday afternoon through Tuesday morning; pockets of heavy rainfall is possible && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 130 AM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 Regional WSR-88D radars depicted a gradual uptick in shower and thunderstorm activity over SW and N AR, Ern OK, and NE TX early this Thursday morning. This trend of increasing convection is anticipated through Friday as a storm system approaches AR from the W. Regional surface analysis showed a quasi-stationary boundary draped over portions of Cntrl AR. This boundary should meander slowly Nwrd today. Along and ahead of this boundary, patchy to areas of dense fog are expected as increasing moisture advection overlaps into cooler locations of N-Cntrl and NE AR. Given this, a dense fog advisory is in effect for N-Cntrl and NE AR through late this morning. Today, high temps should range from the lower/mid 60s over Nrn AR, to near 70/lower 70s across Cntrl, to the upper 70s/lower 80s over Srn AR. Near record to record breaking high temps will be possible once again over Srn AR. Synoptically, large scale ascent will overspread the region beginning this morning. Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are anticipated to increase in coverage from the W/SW as forcing for ascent, low-level moisture advection, and favorable low-level jet dynamics all merge overtop the region. A rather large lobe of energy should eject from the parent trough, traversing across the Plains, as a short wave trough. Lee cyclogenesis is anticipated to develop over the plains beneath said upper level feature. Continued forcing for ascent will promote precipitation into the first half of the day on Friday across AR. Greatest PoP chances and highest QPF potential should be Thursday night into Friday morning QPF trends through Friday have been trending downward in regards to deterministic and ensemble data over the last several days. What has remained consistent within the data set is the preferred corridor of heavier rainfall. Probabilistic data depicts 20%-60% chance of >2" rainfall across W and NW AR (centered over W AR River Valley) and 40% to near 100% chance of >1" rainfall across roughly the NW 2/3rds of AR. Analyzing current flash flood guidance which presently sits at 6hr FFG of 3-5", 3hr FFG of 3-4", and 1hr FFG of 2-3", the threat for widespread flash flooding appears very low. Deterministic forecast calls for 1-2" of rain for the aforementioned time span across NW half of AR (possibly up to 2-3" in places), to 1" or less across the SE half of AR. That said, a corridor of heavier rainfall could still occur, prompting smaller scale flash flood concerns. Brief lull in activity is expected through Sunday evening as the former parent trough ejects across the Rockies and into the Cntrl Plains. Compact amplified ridging will precede the trough which will bring nice weather conditions to AR for 1-2 days. Unsettled conditions are anticipated by Sunday evening/overnight as large scale forcing for ascent again overspreads the region. Several key features remain unclear at this time such as depth/orientation of trough, location of surface low, and magnitude of low-level moisture advection into the low. These features/factors will be monitored over the coming days and will impact overall expected rainfall amounts. Main takeaway, QPF amounts could be much higher with this latter system than the former system. Temps through Tuesday will largely remain above climatology for both highs and lows. Near to below average temps and drier weather are anticipated by Wednesday as high pressure settles into the region from the Nrn Plains in the wake of a potent frontal boundary. && .AVIATION... (18Z TAFS) Issued at 1109 AM CST Thu Nov 20 2025 Area VISBYs have improved from dense fog levels this mrng, w/ lingering light precip sctd acrs the FA moving W to E. Expect lighter precip activity thru the early aftn hrs, w/ an additional round of precip/TS developing over Wrn AR b/w 21-00Z Thurs evng. Otherwise, mixed batch of VFR to IFR conds wl prevail at area terminals thru the day, w/ better flight categories persisting acrs Srn AR, and lower categories over Cntrl to Nrn AR. Moderate Srly winds of 6-10 kts wl be noted as well. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Batesville AR 66 59 75 55 / 100 90 40 10 Camden AR 77 63 76 55 / 50 60 30 20 Harrison AR 64 58 73 50 / 90 100 30 10 Hot Springs AR 73 62 75 54 / 90 90 30 10 Little Rock AR 72 63 75 56 / 90 80 30 10 Monticello AR 79 65 78 60 / 50 50 40 20 Mount Ida AR 74 62 76 52 / 90 100 20 10 Mountain Home AR 62 58 75 51 / 90 100 40 10 Newport AR 66 61 75 57 / 90 90 50 20 Pine Bluff AR 77 63 78 57 / 80 60 40 20 Russellville AR 71 61 77 53 / 90 90 30 0 Searcy AR 70 59 75 54 / 80 90 40 10 Stuttgart AR 75 64 77 58 / 90 60 40 20 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && $$ SHORT TERM...70 LONG TERM....70 AVIATION...56/72