Arkansas, 2002

Damaging Wind in Arkansas, August 20, 2002

August 20, 2002 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 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 Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 2:16 PM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 2:16 PM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
316 PM CDT TUE AUG 20 2002

PROBLEM OF THE DAY IS THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN...WHICH SHOULD BE LATE
WEDNESDAY.

A FEW SHOWERS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF OUR CWFA
RECENTLY. CUMULUS IS WELL DEVELOPED ACROSS MUCH OF THE STATE WITH AN
AREA OF HIGH CLOUDS STREAMING SOUTHWARD INTO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
SHOULD JUST SEE A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON...MAINLY IN THE NORTH...BUT DISSIPATE EARLY THIS EVENING.
VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW AN AXIS OF INSTABILITY FROM NORTH
ARKANSAS TO SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE.

WITH THE UPPER RIDGE OVER ARKANSAS...WEDNESDAY WILL BE A DRY
DAY...SIMILAR TO TODAY. THE HEAT WILL CONTINUE...HOWEVER. HEAT
INDICES WILL AGAIN CLIMB TO AROUND 105 DEGREES. THIS RIDGE WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH LATE IN THE WEEK. A LOW WILL DEVELOP IN THE GULF
AND SLIDE WESTWARD INTO TEXAS LATE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. THIS
WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN TO MAINLY SOUTH PORTIONS OF THE CWFA
BEGINNING THURSDAY MORNING.

IN THE EXTENDED...A COLD FRONT IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL DROP
SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE STATE ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL BRING A BETTER
CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA FOR THE LAST HALF OF THE
WEEKEND. ONCE THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL
FILTER IN FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

STAYED CLOSE TO THE MAV TEMPERATURES. COOL DOWN IS EXPECTED BEHIND
THE FRONT LATE SUNDAY. PRIOR TO THAT...LOWS WILL BE IN THE 70S AND
HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 90S..

.LZK...NONE.

51

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Fulton

When
August 20, 4:30 PM CST
Where
Fulton County, 3 mi S of Viola
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.333, -91.983

Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arkansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, August 2002

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: 5317160.