Flooding in Arkansas, December 17 to 18, 2001

Name: Flooding in Arkansas, December 17 to 18, 2001
Start: 2001-12-17T00:15
End: 2001-12-18T23:59
Location: Arkansas

December 17 to 18, 2001 · NWS MEG · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Heavy rains produced widespread flooding over northeast Arkansas. Some homes were flooded.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $110,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MEG wrote it up.

Heavy rains produced widespread flooding over northeast Arkansas. Some homes were flooded. Several bridges were washed out and a few persons were evacauted.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 16, 9:00 PM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 16, 9:00 PM CST, 3 hours 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
900 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001

CURRENT SFC ANALYSIS SHOWING SLOWLY DEEPENING LOW CENTERED NEAR THE
ARKLATEX WITH A WARM FRONT EXTENDING NEWD ALONG THE MS RIVER INTO
WRN KY. MOST PRECIP THIS EVENING HAS BEEN CONFINED TO THE NORTH SIDE
OF THE FRONT WITH JUST SOME SCT SHRAS IN THE WARM SECTOR. LATEST
RADAR IMAGERY SHOWING LARGE PRECIP SHIELD COVERING MUCH OF AR AND
NWRN LA STARTING TO SHOW SOME EWD PROGRESSION NOW THAT SFC LOW IS
LIFTING NEWD A BIT QUICKER. SQUALL LINE EVEN TRYING TO DEVELOP
ALONG PRE FRONTAL TROF OVER WRN LA. PRECIP WILL LIKELY MOVE BACK INTO
THE MEM AREA AROUND MIDNIGHT WITH HEAVIEST RAIN AND EMBEDDED
THUNDER OCCURRING ACROSS WEST TN AND NW MS BETWEEN 06 AND 12Z.
GREATEST SFC PRESSURE FALLS OVER S CENTRAL AR INTO NE AR INDICATING
SFC LOW SHOULD TRACK BETWEEN MEM AND JBR WITH FRONT ON MEM DOORSTEP
BY 12Z. LIGHTER RAINS CAN THEN BE EXPECTED AFTER FRONT PASSES AS
UPPER TROF CROSSES AREA. CURRENT FCST IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE ALTHOUGH
WILL NEED TO ADJUST SOME TEMPS UPWARD A LITTLE IN WARM SECTOR. NO
CHANGES PLANNED TO CURRENT FFA BUT WILL ISSUE A FOLLOW UP
EMPHASIZING HEAVIEST RAIN TIMING OVERNIGHT.

.MEG...FLOOD WATCH NW 2/3RDS OF CWA TNT.

MZ

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, St. Francis

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: St. Francis forecast zone
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.022, -90.748 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Randolph

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Randolph forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.342, -91.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Poinsett

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Poinsett forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.574, -90.663 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Lawrence

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Lawrence forecast zone
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.041, -91.107 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Mississippi

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Mississippi forecast zone
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 35.764, -90.054 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Clay

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Clay forecast zone
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.368, -90.417 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Greene

When: December 17, 12:15 AM CST to December 18, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Greene forecast zone
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.118, -90.559 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, December 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5275179, 5275180, 5275181, 5275182, 5275183, 5276404, 5276405.