Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency on Saturday after severe thunderstorms knocked down power lines in the northwest of the state overnight from Friday to Saturday.

Justin Condry of the National Weather Service in North Little Rock said a gust front formed and moved from northwest Arkansas toward the southeast of the state. Strong winds were present before and during the storms. The meteorologist said the storms began in northwest Arkansas around 11 p.m. and mostly passed between 5 and 6 a.m. Saturday, knocking down trees.

Reports of storm damage from several counties in the state were posted online Saturday afternoon by the National Weather Service. Counties reporting damage included Grant, Hot Spring, Howard, Barry, Benton, Carroll, Crawford, Sebastian and Logan.

Condry said the measured wind gust in Logan County was 58 mph.

“This is a typical mid-summer storm,” Condry said. “It’s a difficult time of year for hail to form because it’s so warm that the hail can melt before it reaches the ground, and we’re expecting pretty strong winds.”

Power outages

Just after 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Entergy’s online outage map showed just over 2,000 people were still without power, and the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas’ online outage map showed over 7,000 people were still without power.

Over 800 of Entergy’s customers were in Garland County and over 300 were in Montgomery County.

In both Benton and Crawford County, more than 2,500 co-op members were still without power.

Kacee Kirschvink, a spokeswoman for Entergy, said that at its peak, just over 10,000 people were affected by power outages as strong winds and lightning swept through the area.

According to Kirschvink, damage included a torn down cable and several broken masts.

“The greatest damage was in the Hot Springs and Russellville areas,” she said.

Entergy expects service to be restored to most customers by Saturday evening, she added.

SUNDAY STORM PROBABILITY

The weather service said the possibility of severe weather was again forecast for most of the state on Sunday.

There is a slight risk of severe weather across much of Arkansas, including Little Rock, Fayetteville, Hot Springs and Pine Bluff. The weather service defines a slight risk as conditions where isolated severe storms are possible.

“It will be roughly the same situation as Friday night, but perhaps not as widespread,” Condry said.

The biggest concern is gusty winds that could reach up to 60 mph. Hailstones could be as large as quarters, and the tornado potential is very low, close to zero, the meteorologist said.

The storms are expected to hit the country in the afternoon, evening and night into Sunday, the weather service said.

“It’s been a while since we’ve experienced severe weather, so Arkansas residents should be especially careful to have multiple ways to receive severe weather warnings that will wake them up,” Condry said.

Before the storm, it will be warm across the state, he said. But after Sunday’s storm, the forecast calls for a slight cooldown, with highs between 30 and 35 degrees in Little Rock.

“It will still be warm, but it will not be very humid, so the perceived temperature next week will be more in line with the actual temperature,” the meteorologist said.

Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.