Charleston, Arkansas Weather
Charleston, Arkansas — live current conditions, hourly and 7-day forecasts, NWS alerts, radar and satellite imagery, soil and crop conditions for Charleston, Franklin County.
Full aviation weather for Charleston is published on the Arrowhead Assault Strip (KAZU) page, 17 km away. It carries the current METAR decoded into plain language — surface wind, visibility, cloud layers and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting — alongside the raw observation as transmitted. 4 airfields within reach of Charleston have their own pages, listed below.
The Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is shown across its full validity period, with each change group broken out so you can see when conditions are expected to shift. Flight category is derived automatically — VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR — from reported ceiling and visibility, with runway details and field elevation alongside. Observations update roughly hourly and forecasts several times a day.
Other airports near Charleston: Ozark Franklin County Airport (K7M5) 30 km · Fort Smith Regional Airport (KFSM) 30 km · Clarksville Municipal Airport (KH35) 58 km
Conditions reported at KAZU describe the airfield itself. Weather 17 km away can differ, particularly in terrain or near the coast. For conditions at Charleston specifically, see the current conditions and forecast above.
Soil conditions, frost risk and crop weather for Charleston.
About Charleston, Arkansas
Charleston rests in a wide, fertile valley where the Arkansas River’s influence can be felt, though the town itself is a little removed from its immediate banks. It lies 21.3 miles east-south-east of Fort Smith, AR (from Fort Smith, AR: bearing 107°T), and is situated 8.2 miles east-south-east of Lavaca. Rolling hills, cloaked in a mosaic of dense forest and open pasture, define the horizon, their slopes softened by the humid air and the gentle, persistent hum of insect life. The sky above Charleston is a vast canvas, particularly in the late afternoon, when the sun’s descent paints the clouds in hues of bruised plum and molten gold, casting long, languid shadows across the fields of soybeans and corn. The air itself carries a particular warmth, a thick, sweet scent of damp earth and ripening crops that settles like a soft blanket. This land, long before it bore the name Charleston, was a place of passage and sustenance, shaped by the Choctaw and Cherokee peoples and later by American pioneers drawn to its rich soil. The local economy remains deeply rooted in agriculture, with cattle ranching and crop farming forming the backbone of its livelihood, a tradition passed down through generations who understand the land’s generous, yet demanding, nature. A glance at the weathered barns and the sturdy, unpretentious houses suggests a history of resilience and quiet determination. The presence of the Ouachita Mountains to the south hints at a wilder, more rugged beauty just beyond the cultivated fields, a constant reminder of the untamed spirit that still resides in this corner of Arkansas.
Live animated radar for Charleston and surroundings — RainViewer.
NOAA GOES-16 GEOCOLOR — live animated loop updated every 10 minutes. Shows cloud cover, storm systems and weather patterns across the continental US.
Source: NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East · Public domain · Auto-updates on page reload
| Location | Charleston, Franklin County, Arkansas |
| Coordinates | 35.297035°N, 94.036315°W |
| Timezone | Central Time (America/Chicago) |
| ZIP Code(s) | 72933 |
| Area Code | 479 |
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Weather data | Open-Meteo (open-source), NOAA National Weather Service |
About This Charleston, Arkansas Weather Page
This page provides live weather conditions and forecasts for Charleston, Arkansas, including current conditions, a 24-hour hourly forecast, 7-day outlook, NWS extended text forecast, precipitation radar and NOAA GOES-16 satellite imagery. Aviation weather — live METAR observations and TAF forecasts — is published separately on the pages for the nearest reporting airports, linked from the aviation section above. Additional sections may include tide predictions, wave height, wave direction and sea-surface temperature, a barometric pressure trend, and a solunar-based fishing forecast with a fishing-conditions rating for coastal localities, and soil temperature, crop weather and live USGS river gauge data for agricultural areas near a monitored waterway. All data updates automatically on every page visit.
Location data for Charleston includes coordinates 35.297035°N, 94.036315°W, situated in Franklin County. ZIP code 72933. Telephone area code: 479. Timezone: Central Time (America/Chicago).
Weather data is sourced from the NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) and the open-source Open-Meteo API. River and stream data is sourced from the USGS National Water Information System. Tide predictions are sourced from NOAA CO-OPS; marine and solunar data are modeled from Open-Meteo and public sunrise/moon calculations and should be treated as a general guide alongside on-the-water conditions. Radar is provided by RainViewer. Satellite imagery is sourced from NOAA/NESDIS GOES-East and is public domain.
