North Little Rock set its lowest temperature ever recorded in May and Little Rock tied its record daily low Friday morning as winterlike conditions moved into the state.
Central Arkansas was expecting only chilly conditions — a high of only 50 is forecast in Little Rock — but other parts of the state were dealing with frozen precipitation.
Carroll and Madison counties in Northwest Arkansas are under winter weather advisories until 10 a.m. warning of possible snow and ice accumulation. Less than 2 inches has been reported in those two counties Friday morning, the National Weather Service said.
The Arkansas Department of Highway and Transportation online condition map at 6:45 a.m. showed no snow, ice or slush on roadways, though some social media postings from Fayetteville and Springdale showed a light covering of snow on the ground.
Patches of sleet and snow is expected over the late morning hours Friday in north central Arkansas, as the wintry weather shifts east and weakens. Another round of light snow is possible for parts of northwest Arkansas late Friday night and into Saturday morning.
In North Little Rock, only light rain was falling Friday morning. But the low of 39 broke the daily low temperature record of 43, which was set in 2004 and tied a year later, the National Weather Service said. The low also broke the record for lowest temperature in North Little Rock in May. The previous record was 40, which was recorded on May 2, 1978, and 1994.
In Little Rock, the low of 41 tied the daily record low set in 1929. It also marked the first record low for the city since October 2010, the weather service said.
A freeze watch, which warns of at- or below-freezing temperatures, is in place until Saturday morning for Baxter, Boone, Johnson, Marion, Newton, Pope, Searcy, Stone and Van Buren counties.
Rain is expected to continue in the state over the weekend. Flood watches in parts of northeast, east-central and southeast Arkansas will continue into Friday evening.
Eastern Arkansas is expected to see the most rainfall through Sunday morning, as totals could reach 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches. The northeast portion of the state could see some areas of more than 2 inches.
The rest of the state is expected to see rainfall totals between 1/10 inch to 1/3 inch.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.