Weather officials downgraded their risk assessment for a bout of overnight storms moving into Arkansas Wednesday but warned of significant rainfall with the ability to cause flash floods.
The National Weather Service said much of the state is under an elevated risk of severe weather starting Wednesday evening and into Thursday morning.
Nearly the entire state west of the Little Rock metro is under a “slight” risk of severe storms on Wednesday. As the storms move east across the state into Thursday, eastern Arkansas will also be under a slight risk of severe weather, officials said.
Little Rock is under a marginal risk of severe weather Thursday morning, and the weather service said heavy rain is possible for central and eastern Arkansas.
Damaging winds are the agency's main concern, as well as the potential for flash flooding, forecasters said.
“The threat for flash flooding will be highest over a large part of the state, and the threat of river flooding will be highest across southern and eastern Arkansas,” a Wednesday weather briefing said.
Little Rock and the surrounding area could see up to 1.5 inches of rain, while 3 inches of rain are possible for southern and east-central Arkansas.
"Given the previous rain, it will not take much additional rainfall across central and southern Arkansas to cause flash flooding," the weather briefing said.
Storms will diminish during the overnight hours, forecasters said.
