Flash Flood in Arkansas, March 25, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Arkansas, March 25, 2002
Start: 2002-03-25T20:30
End: 2002-03-25T20:30
Location: Arkansas

March 25, 2002 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An elderly man tried to drive through a low water crossing in Cherokee Village and was swept downstream by moving water. His vehicle eventually lodged against a pedestrian crossing at a nearby park and he was rescued there.

Where it happened

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.

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 happened

The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.

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 Mar 25, 3:10 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 25, 3:10 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
310 PM CST MON MAR 25 2002

COMPLEX SITUATION AT THE SURFACE OVER ARKANSAS TONIGHT WILL BE
RESOLVING ITSELF OVERNIGHT...SO THAT BY TUESDAY MORNING ALL RAIN
WILL BE DONE AND CLOUDS WILL BE ON THE DECREASE AS THE DRY SURGE
MOVES IN RATHER QUICKLY. THICKNESS VALUES TONIGHT WILL NOT BE IN
PHASE WITH THE MOISTURE...SO THAT I WILL TAKE OUT THE MENTION OF
WINTRY PRECIPITATION OVER NORTH ARKANSAS. I CAN SEE ITS POSSIBILITY
ACROSS THE BORDER...BUT I WILL LEAVE IT OUT. COORDINATED THIS PART
OF THE FORECAST WITH KTUL AND KSGF. LOWS WILL BE QUITE VARIED FROM
NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST WITH THE PRESENCE OF THE FRONT...FROM THE
LOWER 30S TO NEAR 50. HIGHS TUESDAY WILL RANGE WIDELY AS WELL FROM
THE MID 40S NORTHWEST TO NEAR 60 IN THE SOUTHEAST. THE NEXT CHANCE
OF RAIN IN THE EXTENDED WILL BE FOR FRIDAY. I WILL HOLD OFF SENDING
THE FORECAST TO THE LAST MINUTE TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEXT SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH.

LIT BU 046/057 037/062 042 32700
HRO BU 035/049 032/058 038 32700
PBF BU 048/058 039/064 045 32700
HOT BU 044/057 036/060 040 32700

.LZK...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 25, 5:55 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-261200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
555 PM CST MON MAR 25 2002

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE IN ARKANSAS TONIGHT...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF ARKANSAS
TONIGHT.

LATE THIS AFTERNOON...A FRONT WAS NEARLY STATIONARY FROM MEMPHIS TO
THE LITTLE ROCK AREA. THE FRONT SEPARATED WARM AND MOIST AIR TO ITS
SOUTH FROM MUCH COOLER CONDITIONS FARTHER NORTH.

THROUGH THE DAY...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING NORTH
OF THE FRONT IN THE COOLER AIR. SOME OF THE STORMS BECAME SEVERE
EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON...WITH UP TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL PRODUCED.
ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS...ANY ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE
ISOLATED TONIGHT...WITH LARGE HAIL REMAINING THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER
THREAT.

FARTHER SOUTH...A STORM SYSTEM WAS TRACKING ACROSS SOUTHERN
ARKANSAS...AND WAS NEAR THE MALVERN AREA AT 530 PM. THE SYSTEM WAS
DRAGGING A COLD FRONT THROUGH SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE.

OTHER THAN A FEW SHOWERS...NOT MUCH WAS HAPPENING ALONG THE FRONT.
WHILE TEMPERATURES IN THE 70S WERE MAKING THE ATMOSPHERE
UNSTABLE...THERE WAS A LAYER OF WARM AIR ALOFT THAT WAS CAPPING THE
ATMOSPHERE. THIS WAS PREVENTING THUNDERSTORMS FROM DEVELOPING.

THROUGH THE EVENING...IT IS NOT CERTAIN WHETHER THE CAP WILL BREAK.
IF THE CAP DOES BREAK...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG
THE FRONT IN SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. ANY STORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE WOULD
PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES
POSSIBLE.

DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...PEOPLE ACROSS ARKANSAS SHOULD PREPARE
FOR SEVERE WEATHER. BE READY TO FIND A PLACE OF SAFETY IF A
WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS...AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT IF SEVERE WEATHER
MATERIALIZES.

46

Local storm report, Mar 25, 8:15 PM CST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
815 PM CST MON MAR 25 2002

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0625 PM    COUNTYWIDE                AR   FLOOD
03/25/02   SEARCY                         SECONDARY ROADS FLOODED IN
                                          PLACES...MAINLY AROUND ST. JOE
                                          AND PINDALL. REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0645 PM    COUNTYWIDE                AR   FLOOD
03/25/02   STONE                          HIGHWAYS 263 AND 66 UNDER
                                          WATER IN SPOTS. SEVERAL
                                          COUNTY ROADS FLOODED. REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0655 PM    COUNTYWIDE                AR   FLOOD
03/25/02   IZARD                          HIGHWAY 56 UNDER WATER IN
                                          SPOTS BETWEEN BROCKWELL AND
                                          FRANKLIN. SEVERAL COUNTY ROADS
                                          AND LOW WATER BRIDGES UNDER
                                          WATER. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0700 PM    COUNTYWIDE                AR   FLOOD
03/25/02   FULTON                         NUMEROUS LOW WATER BRIDGES
                                          AND SEVERAL COUNTY ROADS
                                          UNDER WATER. REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

0700 PM    COUNTYWIDE                AR   FLOOD
03/25/02   SHARP                          SEVERAL SECONDARY ROADS
                                          AND LOW WATER BRIDGES UNDER
                                          WATER. ROADS IN HARDY ALSO
                                          FLOODED. REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

46

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Sharp

When: March 25, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Sharp County, Cherokee Vlg
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 36.161, -91.480 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, March 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: 5287175.