Weather prime for storming

Forecasters say twisters possible

Damaging wind, hail and heavy rain are expected today, along with the possibility of tornadoes, as a strong storm system moves through the state, National Weather Service meteorologists said Wednesday.

It’s the first prospect of twisters this year. Forecasters said the combination of a cold front from the north colliding with warm, moist air over the state will create turbulent weather.

“The potential is there,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Goudsward of North Little Rock. “We have the ingredients coming together. It’s very humid. It’s ‘air you can wear.’

“We’re expecting something.”

Most of the state will receive 1 to 2.5 inches of rain, but some areas could receive to 3 inches, Goudsward said.

Storms began developing in the heart of the state Wednesday afternoon and were expected to continue through the night, he said. A second, stronger push is forecast for this afternoon.

Northwest Arkansas could see the turbulent weather early today, said National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Sellers of Tulsa.

“Eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas should see thunderstorms popping up in the morning,” he said. “We’ve got the super warm, moist air in place waiting for the dry air to get there.”

Meteorologists are watching the “dry-line” - an area between the cool, dry air to the west and the warm, moist air to the east - for the formation of storms. Dry-lines are usually more evident farther west in Oklahoma and Texas, said National Weather Service warning coordinator John Robinson.

“Most of the time, dry-lines are not that much discernible in Arkansas,” he said. Usually, the dry air and moist air begin combining once they enter Arkansas, and the dry-line is not as well-formed, he said.

“This time it’s different,” Robinson said.

More severe storms generally form along the dry-line in between the two weather systems, he said.

Robinson said he expects the more severe weather to begin this evening, but he warned schools to be alert because some storms could form in the early afternoon when children are still in classes.

On Wednesday, the weather service repaired its National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s weather radio transmitter in Little Rock, which allows people living in central Arkansas to hear any weather bulletins broadcast on the emergency radio frequencies.

Lightning had damaged the tower, causing a loud “hum” to drown out any weather-related messages.

Robinson said the weather service received help from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and the governor’s office in repairing the tower.

On Tuesday, workers repaired a damaged tower in Mena.

In Russell in White County, a third lightning-damaged tower will be repaired within two weeks, he said. Weather service electronic technicians are not allowed to scale the tall tower to replace cable and must wait for contract workers to do so, Robinson said.

“To get the best reception, we place those towers on hills,” he said. “It’s where lightning is also most likely to strike.”

People living in the Russell area can receive weather advisories on their NOAA weather radios by listening to other transmitters, including Little Rock WXJ-55 at 162.550 mhz, Jonesboro WKJ-51 at 162.550 mhz or Mountain View WXL-66 at 162.450 mhz.

Phone calls have picked up recently at Thunderground Storm Shelters, an Oklahoma City-based builder of tornado shelters. The company installs shelters in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri.

“We’ve seen so much increase in Arkansas,” said Garrett Howerton, director of operations at the business. “We’ve installed several from the west side of the state to the north-central.”

He said he is looking for a distributor in the state because of the increase in the number of requests for shelters he’s received.

“Business always picks up in January, but this spring has been huge,” he said.

Arkansas, Pages 7 on 04/03/2014

Upcoming Events