A freeze warning will be in effect for a large part of Arkansas over the weekend as temperatures are expected to drop following record-setting highs earlier this week, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in North Little Rock said Friday.
As northerly winds bring cold air into the region, overnight lows Friday into Saturday and Saturday into Sunday will plummet into the low 30s in the northern part of the state, meteorologist Sean Clarke said.
The freeze warning has been issued for four counties in Northwest Arkansas and five counties in central Arkansas, according to the weather service. Little Rock, with lows of 43 forecast Friday night and 35 Saturday night, is not included in the warning area.
Temperatures across the state will be up to 8 degrees below normal Saturday with highs in the low-to-mid 50s. Sunday will be even colder with temperatures in the upper 40s, and the freeze warning will likely be extended east across northern Arkansas to Sharp County, Clarke said.
"It’s going to be cold, but the main effect is going to be important for agricultural reasons," he said. "Any kind of crop or sensitive vegetation that isn't used to the cold could die, so people need to protect those."