Triple-digit temperatures are here to stay in central Arkansas, for the time being. Much of Arkansas and its neighboring states will be under an excessive heat warning Wednesday into the weekend.
National Weather Service Meteorologist Travis Shelton says southerly winds are bringing hotter air to the region.
“The source is coming from high pressure, there’s kind of a heat dome over the south-central United States right now. That’s keeping us from getting a lot of cloud cover that absorbs some of the incoming solar radiation,” he said.
Shelton says a frontal boundary will move into the central Arkansas area over the weekend, bringing rain chances and hopefully breaking the streak of triple-digit high temperatures. He says, while hotter temperatures are normal for this time of year, the intensity and duration of this current weather system are a bit out of the ordinary.
“We’re kind of used to these things going in and out, so it’s not unusual but it is a bit more anomalous for something to be stagnant and persist for several days.”
In Little Rock, high temperatures are expected to reach 103 degrees Thursday and 104 Friday, with heat index values over the 110-degree mark. Shelton urges Arkansans to limit outdoor activity and drink plenty of water to avoid heat-related illness.
