Latest missive from Garland County Department of Emergency Management

Thursday, August 30, 3:50 p.m.

Very few changes from this morning. Isaac still looks to take a track through western Arkansas.

Through this evening, there is still a chance of a couple of tornadoes, mainly over the southeastern quarter of the state. On Friday, the tornado threat will be over most of the state, primarily during the afternoon and evening. Chances for tornadoes on Friday look to be greater than today, since some sunshine is expected to poke through the clouds at times, increasing warming and instability.

So far, the strongest wind gusts that I have seen reported at the airport stations have been 43 mph at Monticello and 47 mph at Texarkana. In general, sustained winds will be in the 20 to 30 mph range with gusts of 40 to 45 mph. These winds will last for quite a number of hours in most locations. Thus, weakened trees will have a greater opportunity to fall.

The big emphasis is still on heavy rain and potential flash flooding. We are still expecting 2 to 5 inches of rain in most places, and there will likely be at least a few totals to 7 inches or more. So far, some drier air on the west side of Isaac has cut down on the amount of rain in Arkansas. But, as I noted in earlier messages, tropical rains can increase during the night, especially near the center of the tropical system.