Northwest Arkansas remains under threat from severe weather Friday following a round of storms Thursday night.
Threats today include tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and flash flooding, according to a hazardous weather outlook from the National Weather Service:
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
514 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013
ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-312215-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
514 AM CDT FRI MAY 31 2013
...SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER...FLASH FLOODING ANTICIPATED TODAY AND TONIGHT...
THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
TORNADO.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA....NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET....LATE AFTERNOON.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA...NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS.
ONSET...AFTERNOON.
AREA AT GREATEST RISK...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
FLASH FLOOD.
RISK...ELEVATED.
AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...AFTERNOON.
HEAVY RAIN.
RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
ONSET...AFTERNOON.
SIGNIFICANT WINDS.
RISK...LIMITED.
AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA.
ONSET...THIS MORNING.
DISCUSSION...
ALL INGREDIENTS COMING TOGETHER TO SET THE STAGE FOR A SIGNIFICANT
SEVERE WEATHER EVENT LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS EASTERN
OKLAHOMA..WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
A WARM MOIST ATMOSPHERE THAT HAS BEEN IN PLACE THE LAST FEW DAYS
WILL INTERACT WITH UPPER LEVEL ENERGY ASSOCIATED WITH A LARGER
UPPER TROUGH LOCATED ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS. VERY STEEP LAPSE
RATES WILL BE IN PLACE LATER THIS AFTERNOON IN CONJUNCTION WITH AN
APPROACHING COLD FRONT FROM THE NORTH...AND A DRYLINE TO THE WEST.
FAVORABLE WIND SHEAR THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE EXPECTED TO SUPPORT
DISCRETE CELL DEVELOPMENT IS SOMEWHAT LACKING...HOWEVER EXTREME
INSTABILITY WILL BE AMPLE TO INITIATE AND SUSTAIN VERY STRONG
UPDRAFTS SUPPORTIVE OF TORNADIC DEVELOPMENT AND HAIL TO THE SIZE
OF TENNIS BALLS.
AS THE EVENING PROGRESSES...THE SEVERE MODE WILL TRANSITION TOWARDS
A STRAIGHT LINE WIND AND LARGE HAIL RISK. ADDITIONALLY...THE MID
AND UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELDS ARE FORECAST TO PARALLEL THE SURFACE
FRONT...WHICH IS INDICATIVE REPEATED ROUNDS OF STORMS OVER THE
SAME AREAS. MANY AREAS ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA HAVE ALREADY
REACHED SATURATION ALONG WITH MANY MAIN STEM RIVERS ALREADY IN
FLOOD. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL RAPIDLY ESCALATE THE ONSET OF
FLASH FLOODING. SEE /OKCFFATSA/ FOR FLOOD WATCH DETAILS.
AREAL COVERAGE OF SEVERE WEATHER...AND HEAVY RAINFALL WILL
CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT WITH THE RISKS OF SEVERE
STORMS LESSENING BY VERY LATE TONIGHT.
SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
ACTIVATION OF THE REGIONAL SPOTTER NETWORK EXPECTED.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND FIRST RESPONDERS SHOULD CONTINUE
TO MONITOR FORECASTS AND ONGOING WEATHER CONDITIONS OVER THE NEXT 24
TO 36 HOURS DUE TO THE LIKELIHOOD OF SEVERE WEATHER AND FLOODING.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.
SATURDAY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL...HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL.
SUNDAY...NO HAZARDS.
MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
STORMS WILL LIKELY BE ONGOING SATURDAY MORNING AS THE SLOW MOVING
FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE SLOW TO CLEAR THE REGION. DRIER AND
COOLER AIR WILL WORK IN BEHIND THE BOUNDARY FROM NORTH TO
SOUTH...WITH SEVERAL DAYS OF SETTLED WEATHER EXPECTED IN THE WAKE
OF THIS FRONT. THUNDERSTORM CHANCES RETURN MONDAY NIGHT AS THE
UPPER PATTERN TRANSITIONS TO A MORE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW.