377 FXUS64 KLZK 150509 AAA AFDLZKArea Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Little Rock AR 1209 AM CDT Mon Sep 15 2025
...New AVIATION...
.KEY MESSAGES... Issued at 214 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2025
-A dominant upper lvl ridge will position over Arkansas through the middle portion of the workweek.
-An upper level trough will approach the Central Plains by the middle of next week and bring a respectable chance for precipitation to Arkansas.
-A lower-end chance (15% to 20%) of a few isolated showers will be possible across parts of Arkansas on Sunday afternoon, Monday afternoon, and Tuesday afternoon.
-Expect the worsening of drought conditions over the next week as hot and dry weather will be expected overall through mid-week and only a dent may be put into drought conditions in locations that experience the highest rainfall totals by Saturday. As the later forecast packages near midweek, the areas with the greatest opportunity to experience higher rainfall totals should become clearer.
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.DISCUSSION... Issued at 214 AM CDT Sun Sep 14 2025
SUNDAY (TODAY) THROUGH TUESDAY:
The most noted upper lvl feature for the next several days is a stout region of amplified ridging with the center of the aforementioned ridge positioned directly over the Mid-South region of the CONUS including over Arkansas. The overall weather conditions to expect over this period will be hot and dry conditions.
However, it`s worth a mention that several short-term models including the HRRR and RAP continue to show a signal of isolated showers developing during the afternoon into early evening timeframe across a large portion of Arkansas, this is also supported by HREF probabilistic data that continues to suggest a 15% to 20% chance of showers over a large part of the state due to an upper lvl closed low that is positioned across the Four Corner region of the CONUS, but will quickly eject north-northeastward over the Central Plains region of the CONUS into the early workweek, but will remain in close enough proximity to provide lower end PoPs across part of the state. Unfortunately, these showers will be widely isolated, but will have an outside opportunity to settle the dust if you become lucky enough to be underneath the right spot at the right time. A few showers may produce a couple of lightning strikes, but decent thunderstorm activity is not anticipated today through Tuesday.
Expect temperatures to remain around 5 to 10 degrees above average compared to normals for mid-September over this period.
WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY:
An upper lvl trof will dig over the Central Plains region of the CONUS on Wednesday and the ridge will become elongated across the Southern region of the CONUS as the center of this ridge is expected to retrograde back over northern Mexico and far southern Texas. Appreciable chances for PoPs will begin on Wednesday as a weak cold front approaches the Central Plains region of the CONUS and moves across Arkansas on Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Temperatures overall will be not be significantly impacted, but the rain-cooled air and a slightly cooler airmass will lower temperatures overall to values right near average to a few degrees above average.
A second weak cold front will near the state of Arkansas on Friday morning into Friday afternoon keeping the chance for PoPs ahead of the boundary. However, PoPs will range in the vicinity of 20% to 30% across the state. Finishing out the forecast on Saturday will be t he cold front struggling to move completely into Arkansas, but keeping a lower end chance of PoPs in the forecast during the day on Saturday, but this forecast out this far is likely to change and become more refined as any specifics this far out remain low confidence.
A very preliminary look at rainfall totals between today and next Saturday look to vary greatly across the state as most of the rain and storm activity over the next seven days will be isolated to scattered across the state. A few locations may approach 1 inch of total rainfall over this seven day period while other locations will be lucky to tally a tenth of an inch of total rainfall. A dent will possibly be put into drought condition across locations that are fortunate enough to experience the higher rainfall totals while other locations may experience little to no relief from drought conditions.
Expect temperatures to remain near average to as much as 8 degrees above average compared to normals for mid-September over this period.
The upper lvl ridge will continue to contribute to a dry and hot pattern overall which will continue to worsen drought conditions across the state (a few exceptions may apply in locations that experience the higher rainfall totals between today and next Saturday). Anticipate grassfire and wildfire danger to continue to increase.
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.AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1207 AM CDT Mon Sep 15 2025
Expect dominant VFR conditions to persist...though some patchy fog may be seen this morning. Some isolated/scattered convection will be possible on Mon...especially in the afternoon hrs. Expect this activity to dissipate by the late evening hrs.
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.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Batesville AR 66 93 64 94 / 10 10 0 10 Camden AR 66 93 65 92 / 10 20 10 20 Harrison AR 65 89 63 89 / 20 30 10 20 Hot Springs AR 68 93 66 92 / 10 30 10 20 Little Rock AR 69 92 68 91 / 10 10 10 10 Monticello AR 68 94 68 94 / 10 20 10 10 Mount Ida AR 66 92 65 91 / 10 30 10 30 Mountain Home AR 66 93 64 93 / 20 20 10 10 Newport AR 68 93 67 94 / 10 10 0 10 Pine Bluff AR 68 93 66 94 / 10 10 0 10 Russellville AR 68 92 67 93 / 10 20 10 20 Searcy AR 67 93 65 94 / 10 10 0 10 Stuttgart AR 68 93 68 94 / 10 10 0 10
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.LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. &&
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DISCUSSION...74 AVIATION...62
NWS LZK Office Area Forecast Discussion