Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, LA at 1 AM CT as a powerful Category 4 Hurricane with winds of 150 mph and a central pressure of 938 mb. After bringing devastating winds over 110 mph and unsurvivable storm surge over 15 feet, the storm will track north into Arkansas on Thursday, sideswiping the Ozarks late Thursday night into Friday.

Skies will remain mostly cloudy today with just a slight chance for showers today. Afternoon temperatures with the clouds will hold generally in the mid to upper 80s again.

Thursday evening is when the outer bands of “Laura” will move north into Northern Arkansas, spreading into South Central Missouri overnight. The storm will continue to generate rain into Friday over North Central Arkansas into South Central Missouri into Friday. The heavy rain will tend to fall along and south of a Harrison, AR, to Eminence, MO, line where 1 to 3″ is possible. Gusty winds will come with the heavier rain too with gusts of 30 to 40 mph.

By late afternoon Friday, the storm will be pulling away with skies becoming partly cloudy.

A cold front will quickly follow suit, sweeping through early Saturday. A few showers can’t be ruled out with the front, but prospects don’t look good. Much of Saturday just looks partly cloudy and dry.

The front will serve as a focus for rain overnight Saturday into Sunday as it tries to lift back to the north and some upper-level energy rides across the area. This should lead to bouts of scattered showers and thunderstorms through Monday morning.

Another front will move in from the west on Monday, likely stalling in the area through Wednesday morning. This will keep a favorable setup for bouts of scattered showers and thunderstorms in place through the middle of the week. The pattern should offer up a good opportunity for some generous rainfall in an area that has seen very dry conditions develop. Temperatures will look more manageable too with highs in the 80s through the stretch.