Mount Magazine State Park Information

Mount Magazine Weather

Mount Magazine weather, as anywhere else in the country, can change quickly. Daytime temperatures are generally at least 10 degrees cooler than those in surrounding valleys below. That is especially true during summer months. It rarely climbs above 90 degrees on the mountaintop, and has not reached 100 degrees since data has been collected here. The average year-round temperature is 56 degrees and the average rainfall is 54 inches each year, noticeably different from the usual Arkansas climate and weather patterns.

Low clouds cause foggy conditions and reduce visibility any time of year with an average of eight days a month, more than the typical Arkansas climate and weather. November tends to be the foggiest month while March and April have the fewest days of fog. However, there are some mornings when the valleys below are shrouded in fog and nearby mountains appear like islands above a sea of clouds.

Scenic overlooks provide broad vistas for Arkansas sightseeing as well as watching Mount Magazine weather conditions. Fast moving thunderstorms and lightning can make for very dramatic photographs. However, always use caution in these conditions.

Ice comes in various forms on the mountaintop. Frost, sleet, hail, snow, and freezing rain are the usual types of ice with which most people are familiar. Other types of ice can be found on these upper elevations. Frost flowers are thin blades of ice that ooze out of the forest floor. Ice crystals grow upward from underground, sometimes lifting pebbles. Waterfalls and seeps freeze into icicles that create interesting photo opportunities. Hoarfrost is frozen dew that forms a white coating on plants. Rime ice is a coating of ice formed when water droplets freeze almost instantly on cold surfaces. Freezing fog accumulates on trees in fragile layers and can be strikingly beautiful at sunrise. Exploring the mountaintop in winter can be a wonderful experience.

The Arkansas climate and weather in winter weather limits forest growth on the mountaintop. Limbs and sometimes whole trees snap during ice storms. Constant wind shapes cedars that grow on the edges of bluffs into large, artfully gnarled bonsai-shape trees. Oaks struggle to grow in poor soils near bluff areas. Wind and ice contribute to their scrubby appearance.