1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 31, 2:35 AM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 335 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 BUSY NIGHT...SO WILL HAVE TO BE BRIEF. MODELS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT NEXT FEW DAYS WITH SURFACE AND UPPER FEATURES. WILL HAVE TO KEEP HIGH POPS WITH HEAVY RAIN/FLASH FLOOD THREAT AND A FEW SEVERE STORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN ZONES THIS MORNING...WITH DECREASING POPS THIS AFTERNOON. LATEST SATELLITE/RADAR TRENDS SUGGEST HEAVIEST RAINS SINKING BACK TO THE SOUTH INTO SHV FORECAST AREA...SO WILL HOLD OFF ON FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR NOW. MAIN FLOOD THREAT WOULD BE TO OUR EXTREME SOUTHERN ROW OF COUNTIES...WHERE WARNINGS ARE ALREADY IN EFFECT. CENTRAL SECTIONS SHOULD SEE THUNDERSTORMS COME TO AN END EARLIER... BUT WILL KEEP SCATTERED TO LIKELY CHANCES IN FOR THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. DRIER AIR MOVES IN FOR TONIGHT/FRIDAY ALL AREAS. NEXT COLD FRONT SLATED FOR FRIDAY NIGHT. NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF RETURN FLOW WITH THIS FRONT...BUT MODELS ADVERTISE FAIRLY HIGH INTEGRATED MOISTURE VALUES AND MODERATE INSTABILITY...SO WILL GO WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSHOWERS FRIDAY NIGHT...THEN CLEAR THINGS OUT SAT BEHIND THE FRONT. (45) .LIT...NONE.
ARZ056-057-062>069-311830- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TODAY OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN ONE THIRD OF ARKANSAS. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN ONE THIRD OF ARKANSAS. A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS ARKANSAS TODAY. THIS FRONT WILL COLLIDE WITH WARM AND HUMID AIR OVER SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS. THIS WILL TRIGGER THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THE STORMS AS WELL. EMERGENCY MANAGERS...STORM SPOTTERS...AND AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED LATER TODAY. 38
ARZ056-057-062>069-311830- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT THU MAY 31 2001 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TODAY OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN ONE THIRD OF ARKANSAS. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN ONE THIRD OF ARKANSAS. A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS ARKANSAS TODAY. THIS FRONT WILL COLLIDE WITH WARM AND HUMID AIR OVER SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS. THIS WILL TRIGGER THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. RAIN WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THE STORMS AS WELL. EMERGENCY MANAGERS...STORM SPOTTERS...AND AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED LATER TODAY. 38
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:57 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Two to as much as four inches of rain caused some flash flooding in Ouachita County. Several county roads were washed out or covered by high water. A creek overflowed its banks onto a section of Arkansas Highway 376.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, May 2001
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: 5249562.