4:30am update on severe weather threat

At 4:30am, MWN StormView Radar and neighboring radars are showing an area of showers and embedded thunderstorms approaching the MS River with the back edge about at Little Rock. I expected more of a classic squall line about this time this morning and it hasn't really materialized as the rain and t'storms have outrun the cold front somewhat. This has decreased the severe weather threat, particularly for tornadoes, a great deal. Stronger storms, mini-bow echo lines, appear to be staying south of the metro area at this time, though a fairly strong embedded line also appears to entend north from Jonesboro.

However, caution should still be exercised as wind ahead of and behind the frontal system will still be very strong and some 50-60 mph gusts are not out of the question. The current Tornado Watch goes until 6am and I expect it will be dropped then or replaced with a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for a couple of hours longer. The morning commute still looks to be wet and very windy, so please exercise caution and watch out for others on the roadways this morning.

A High Wind Warning remains in effect until 3pm as those non-convective winds (unrelated to storms) will be fierce until later this afternoon in the wake of the cold front.