Arkansas Woods
A few cities include: Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Little Rock.
Terrain: Densely forested with hilly areas.
Local tornado season: Peaks between April and mid-May.
Road network: Sparse and irregular.
Radar coverage: Some gaps in northern and southern Arkansas.
Arkansas is the transition area between the Plains to the west and the Mississippi River valley to the east. Some environments will include elements characteristic of Plains storms. This means that it is not uncommon to see classic, relatively slow-moving supercell thunderstorms in western and central Arkansas. Arkansas is still part of Dixie, however, so more often than not, storms are fast-moving and high precipitation in nature.
Tornadoes and tornado outbreaks are no stranger to Arkansas, as many intense, long-track tornadoes have ripped through the state. Overall, a little bit of everything is possible in Arkansas. This includes large to very large hail on occasion, as well as damaging winds, especially if a squall line forms.
Terrain
Despite the frequency of supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes in Arkansas, the terrain is very unfavorable for storm chasing. Most of this area is heavily forested and the Ozarks extend into northwestern Arkansas, where there are hills and even some mountains. Be prepared for potentially blocked roads during severe weather outbreaks in Arkansas. Strong winds can easily knock down some of the many trees.
A relatively narrow corridor along the Arkansas River valley has some flatter aspects, but unless a storm happens to be in that area, chances are storm chasers in western or central Arkansas will have trees blocking view of storms. South of the river in west-central Arkansas, one will find Ouachita National Forest. While it may be picturesque if you like hiking or the outdoors, it is an area that is next to impossible to try to chase a storm in, if you can even see the storm at all.
Road network
The road network in Arkansas is not any better. In fact, across the greater Lower Mississippi Valley area, the road network in this part of Arkansas might be the worst of all. In the Ozarks of northwestern Arkansas, the road network is sparse and most roads that do exist are extremely curvy. As a result, it may take 20 miles or more to go what would have been a distance of 10 miles in a straight line. This makes chasing storms difficult, especially if they are moving at highway speeds. In that case, it’s just about impossible, unless you are following the storm along a main highway.
For the main freeways, they are I-30, I-40 and I-49. Interstate-30 will bring you from Texarkana to Little Rock. Storm chasing on either side of I-30 is arguably equally difficult. I-40 cuts through the Arkansas River valley, meaning it can be used as a place to watch storms from, as there are some clearings to work with. Deviate far off I-40 in western or central Arkansas and observing a storm quickly becomes quite a challenge. I-49 transverses the western part of the state in two segments and both feature unfavorable chase terrain and/or densely populated areas.
Radar coverage
KSRX and KLZK are the main sources of radar coverage for western and central Arkansas. While KSGF covers far northwestern Arkansas, there is limited coverage in north-central parts of the state. To the south, KSHV covers far southwestern Arkansas, but there is limited coverage between roughly Texarkana and Arkadelphia. In general, if chasing along or near the I-40/I-49 corridors, radar coverage is not an issue.
In summary, while western and central Arkansas sees its fair share of supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes, due to tough terrain and challenging road networks, it is usually a hard place to try to chase a storm. Also be aware that southwestern and north-central Arkansas also have gaps in radar coverage.
Notes
For storm chasing prospects in eastern Arkansas, refer to the Dixie Delta chase zone.