Northern parts of the state are forecast to possibly see either some snow flurries or rain mixed with snow starting Wednesday, the National Weather Service said. Meanwhile, statewide temperatures are expected to be near the 30s on Wednesday.
"A slow moving storm system is sort of lumbering through and will be near Missouri, and the northern part of the state might see some light precipitation during the overnight hours" said Dan Koch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock.
"This will result in chances of sprinkles or snow flurries in northern Arkansas Wednesday and maybe Thursday," the weather service said in a post on X, the social media platform formally known as Twitter, on Tuesday morning.
"We aren't expecting any accumulation, with the exception of maybe some of the mountain tops," Koch said Tuesday afternoon. "That possible dusting would melt as soon as the sun hits it in the morning." He said they don't expect anything to stick.
The meteorologist said the weather service was not currently concerned about travel impacts in the state.
"If someone is traveling from Arkansas north to Missouri, they might need to be more worried, but in the state we aren't expecting it to impact travel," he said.
"I know anytime we say there could be snow anywhere in the state, everyone kind of sits up on the edge of their seat, but we don't have a lot of concerns with this system," Koch said.
The rest of Arkansas will see some colder air throughout this week, into the new year, he said.
"On Tuesday night, we are forecast to see temperatures in the 30s statewide," Koch said. "It will be rather chilly compared to Christmas Eve."
Little Rock could see temperatures in the lower 50s much of Wednesday, the forecaster said. The weekend could see lows near the 20s and 30s.
"On New Year's Day, in Little Rock we are predicting a high in the 40s and a low in the 20s, so a very chilly start to the new year," Koch said.
There is not any severe weather or precipitation expected for the central and southern parts of Arkansas this week, the forecaster said.
"It will be a relatively drama-free week for weather, mainly just chilly," he said.
He said Arkansans should treat the chance of wintry precipitation in northern Arkansas as a kind of warning call.
"This is a good reminder that we are in winter and that even though we are expecting a warmer winter than normal this year, it does not mean that the state won't see colder spells," Koch said.
The forecaster said he would not be surprised to see a few more storm systems with the chance of winter weather in Arkansas in January or February.
"It's a good thing to remember that in the new year, we will start to see more variation with the winter weather on the horizon," he said.