JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - With severe storms packing high winds, flooding rains, and possible tornadoes expected to move through Region 8 Friday afternoon, several schools have announced they are closing early.

School Closings

Arkansas State University closing at 1 p.m.
Bay Public Schools dismissing at 1:30 p.m.
Brookland Public Schools will dismiss at 1 p.m., with buses leaving at 1:30
Greene County Tech School District dismissing early; PreK car line will start at 11:50 a.m.; Kindergarten car line will start at 12:15 p.m.; all other car lines will start at 12:30; buses will run 2.5 hours early
Jonesboro Public Schools dismissing at 1 p.m.
Jackson County School District dismissing early; preschool from 11:30 to noon; TES car line at 12:10; THS dismissal at 12:20; buses leaving at 12:30 p.m.
Nettleton Public Schools dismissing at 1 p.m.
Paragould School District dismissing at 1 p.m.; buses running 2 hours early
Riverside Public Schools dismiss at 1:15 p.m., buses depart at 1:30 p.m.
St. Mary’s Catholic School and Preschool dismissing at 1 p.m.
Westside Consolidated School District dismissing at 1 p.m.

For the latest school closings, click here.

SAFE ROOMS

The Craighead County Office of Emergency Management announced the following shelters will be open:

Craighead County Eastern District Courthouse, 107 Cobean Blvd., Lake City
City of Monette City Hall, 119 N. Edmonds, Monette
City of Brookland Shelter, 407 Holman
Greater Vision Church, 529 E. Court St. in Paragould, open at 1 p.m.
Hardy Gym, 203 School St.
Jonesboro Public School (Douglas MacArthur Jr. High School, 1615 Wilkins Ave.) opens to the public at 2 p.m.
Monette storm shelters (Masonic Lodge on North 139, Senior Center on South Williams, City Park on Virginia Avenue, and the fire department on North Edmonds) open at noon
Nettleton Public Schools (Fox Meadow Elementary, 2305 Fox Meadow Lane) open to public at 3:30 p.m.
Nettleton Public Schools (University Heights Elementary, 300 Bowling Lane) open to public at 3:30 p.m.
Nettleton Public Schools (Nettleton STEAM) open to public at 3:30 p.m.
Riverside High School, 601 Catfish Dr. in Lake City, opens at 1:30 p.m
West Elementary School, 2001 Hwy. 18 in Lake City, open at 1:30 p.m.

Data is showing that severe weather will be moving into the area Friday afternoon.

“We are expecting strong to severe thunderstorms to affect all of Region 8 Friday afternoon and evening,” said Meteorologist Aaron Castleberry. “It is something we have been looking at and talking about for the majority of this week.”

Today is the day we expect strong to severe storms. Expect supercells this afternoon that could produce tornadoes, high winds, and hail.

⏰Timing: 12PM-9PM
🌪️ Tornadoes
💨 High winds
⛈️ Hail possible

Make sure you have ways to get warnings. We will be here. #ARWX #MOWX pic.twitter.com/OKVijdEvvB
— Aaron Castleberry (@WXAaronJC) March 31, 2023

Much of the area has been under a medium risk for severe weather since Monday, but newer data shows the majority of Region 8 under a high risk.

“We are expecting to see storms develop out in our western counties by 2 to 3 p.m. As they move farther to the east, the storms will have the ingredients to produce strong winds, some hail, and tornadoes,” he explained.

Best places to take cover are in an interior room with no windows.(Region 8 News)

Castleberry added that we could see some scattered showers during the morning, but those should not be severe.

The weather system should move out of the area and across the Mississippi River by 10 p.m.

Watch the Region 8 StormTEAM on-air and online

Watch the latest forecasts on KAIT-TV at 4:30-7 a.m., Midday at 11 a.m., News at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. on KAIT-ABC & KAIT-NBC.

Newscasts are available over the air, on cable and satellite where available, on kait8.com, and on the Region 8 News mobile app for smartphones and tablets.

To install or update the Region 8 News and StormTeam apps, search KAIT in your mobile marketplace or click here.

Then watch Region 8 News from any device with either the Region 8 News app, the Region 8 StormTeam app, plus Region 8 News on its Roku channel, on Amazon Firestick, or on AppleTV installed on connected TVs (CTV).