Freeze warning is in effect, NWS says

A freeze warning is in effect this morning for extreme Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, and all of Southwest Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service. Freezing temperatures are possible across northern parts of the Four State Region as a cold air mass settles in behind a strong cold front.

“Our data for the Texarkana area goes back to 1893, and based on this information I can tell you that the earliest recorded freeze in Texarkana was on Oct. 9, 1917, and the latest recorded first freeze occurred on Dec. 22, 1998. The average date for the first freeze in the area is Nov. 12. So with a freeze warning in effect for Saturday morning it looks like things are

running near normal,” said Mario D. Valverde, NSWS meteorologist-in-charge in Shreveport, La.

“Now with that said, we cannot make any long term predictions from just this. Looking at the official 30-day outlook from the Climate Prediction Center for the area, we are expecting below normal temperatures and above normal precipitation. Yet the 90-day forecast calls for near-normal temperatures and above normal precipitation. So it looks like the coming winter should be wetter than normal with normal to cooler temperatures,” Valverde said.

The freeze warning includes the following counties:

Sevier, Howard, Little River, Hempstead, Nevada, Miller, Lafayette, Columbia, Union, McCurtain, Red River and Bowie.

The warning also includes the cities of De Queen, Nashville, Mineral Springs, Dierks, Ashdown, Hope, Prescott, Texarkana, Stamps, Lewisville, Bradley, Magnolia, El Dorado, Idabel, Broken Bow, Clarksville, and Bogata, Texas.