Weather alert issued by the National Weather Service

... SOME SNOW THIS MORNING... WITH MORE WINTRY PRECIPITATION ON MONDAY...

LIGHT RAIN WAS FALLING ACROSS ARKANSAS EARLY THIS MORNING. HOWEVER... THERE WERE POCKETS OF LIGHT SNOW IN NORTHERN ARKANSAS. SOME AREAS WERE REPORTING A DUSTING OF SNOW IN THE NORTH... BUT ROADS WERE WET WITH TEMPERATURES ABOVE FREEZING.

LATER TODAY... RAIN WILL END... WITH A STRONG COLD FRONT TO FOLLOW FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE FRONT WILL BRING MUCH COLDER AIR AND BREEZY CONDITIONS TONIGHT AND SATURDAY. CLOUDS WILL DECREASE AS WELL.

ARCTIC HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE REGION THIS WEEKEND. WELL BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE FORECAST... WITH PERHAPS THE COLDEST AIR OF THE WINTER THUS FAR. HIGH TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY WILL ONLY BE IN THE 30S AND 40S... WITH SOME 20S IN THE NORTHWEST. LOW TEMPERATURES BY SUNDAY MORNING WILL ONLY BE IN THE TEENS AND LOWER 20S.

HEADING INTO NEXT WEEK... IT WILL REMAIN COLD ON MONDAY AS A NEW STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. THE SYSTEM WILL PULL MOISTURE NORTHWARD FROM THE GULF COAST... AND WINTRY PRECIPITATION WILL BREAK OUT.

AS MONDAY BEGINS... SNOW AND SLEET ARE EXPECTED IN NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS. IN THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES... THERE MAY BE A COMBINATION OF RAIN AND FREEZING RAIN. THE RUSH HOUR DRIVE COULD BE TRICKY ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE.

AS THE DAY PROGRESSES... WARMER AIR WILL TRY TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION FROM THE SOUTH. SNOW SHOULD CONTINUE TOWARD THE MISSOURI BORDER... WITH RAIN OR SNOW IN CENTRAL SECTIONS AND RAIN IN THE SOUTH.

THIS COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT WINTER EVENT IN PARTS OF THE STATE. THE PATTERN IS VERY COMPLEX... AND FORECAST TWEAKS ARE LIKELY LEADING UP TO THE EVENT. ARKANSANS ARE ADVISED TO MONITOR THE FORECAST THIS WEEKEND... AND PLAN ACCORDINGLY.