You Think This Is Cold? LOL!

The "Arctic Hammer" will swing and swing hard next week.  We are very confident the cold will be brutal and last longer than what we have experienced so far this week.  We just finished 57 consecutive hours of temperatures at or below freezing.

Once again, the cold is the big weather story over the next 7 days.  Ice will form on ponds and lakes.  Make sure you have that discussion with your kids to stay off the ice.  It could be thin and we don't want to see anyone get hurt.

The front swings through later Saturday and you will notice it Sunday (New Year's Eve).  A wind chill advisory and/or warning will likely be needed by Monday morning.  What's the difference between the two?

Wind chill advisory - wind chill readings 0° or below with at least a 10 mph wind for 3 hours or longer.

Wind chill warning - wind chill readings of -15° or lower with at least a 10 mph wind for 1 hour or longer.

What about wintry weather?  It's possible to have light amounts of freezing drizzle, sleet, and light snow across western and southern Arkansas Sunday morning.  I don't expect anything major, but it will take very little to cause travel issues due to the very cold ground and very cold air temperatures.

We'll continue below freezing Sunday through Tuesday, then we might go above freezing for awhile Wednesday.  There are already signs of another push of cold arctic air for the end of next week.

Very important, remember PETS, PIPES, AND PEOPLE!!!

NAM guidance has wind chills well below zero for much of the state Monday morning, except the southwest.

Metro wind chills at 9AM New Year's Day should be around 0 to -6°.  This may warrant a wind chill advisory.

The GFS guidance looks close to the Euro throwing small amounts of moisture into the cold air early Sunday morning, especially across southern and western Arkansas.  This will be light and brief.  However, it can cause travel issues.

Here are the specifics with our forecast as of Friday morning.  There will be changes, so stay with Channel 7.