Flash Flood in Arkansas, May 10, 2002

Name: Flash Flood in Arkansas, May 10, 2002
Start: 2002-05-10T06:30
End: 2002-05-10T06:30
Location: Arkansas

May 10, 2002 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Excessive rain resulted in flash flooding in parts of Ouachita County. Several county roads were under water and were closed for a time, including roads 4, 18, 53, 54, 95, 97, 119, 120, 155 and 376.

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.

Excessive rain resulted in flash flooding in parts of Ouachita County. Several county roads were under water and were closed for a time, including roads 4, 18, 53, 54, 95, 97, 119, 120, 155 and 376.

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 May 10, 3:00 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 10, 3:00 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
400 AM CDT FRI MAY 10 2002

THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHERN COUNTIES THIS MORNING ALONG 850
FRONT AND WHERE SOME WARM ADVECTION CONTINUES. THIS DECREASES LATER
TODAY, BUT OVERRUNNING PATTERN CONTINUES WITH THE FRONT NEARLY
STATIONARY JUST SOUTH OF THE AREA. FIGURE ON NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING TODAY WITH THE BEST COVERAGE IN THE SOUTH.
INTENSITY LIKELY WILL DECREASE AS SHORT WAVE MOVES PAST THE AREA
AND AIR MASS LIKELY WILL BE WORKED OVER FROM OVERNIGHT STORMS. FRONT
WILL BEGIN MOVING NORTH TONIGHT AND SATURDAY, BUT IT WILL LIKELY TAKE
UNTIL SOMETIME SATURDAY BEFORE IT IS NORTH OF THE AREA. MAIN MOISTURE
AXIS TRANSLATES NORTH AND BETTER POPS SHOULD SHIFT TO THE NORTH FOR
TONIGHT. WILL KEEP POPS IN CHANCE CATEGORY FOR TONIGHT. WILL KEEP
CHANCE POPS IN THE NORTH FOR SATURDAY DUE TO PROXIMITY OF THE FRONT,
BUT FEEL THE REST OF THE CWA WILL BE CAPPED TOO MUCH FOR ANY CHANCE
OF RAIN. WILL CONTINUE THIS INTO SUNDAY. COLD FRONT REACHES NORTHWESTERN
SECTIONS LATE SUNDAY, AND WILL PUT A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THAT
AREA DUE TO THAT BUT WILL KEEP MENTION OF PRECIPITATION OUT FOR
OTHER AREAS FOR NOW. AVN BRINGS COLD FRONT ACROSS STATE SUNDAY
NIGHT, AND COULD SEE SQUALL LINE MOVE ACROSS STATE OR A SCENARIO
SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY MORNING WITH SOME BOW ECHOES OR ISOLATED
SUPERCELLS. WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS FOR THE WHOLE AREA FOR SUNDAY
NIGHT FOR NOW. MAXES TODAY LIKELY WILL NOT BE MUCH ABOVE TEMPS AT
FORECAST TIME AND WILL GO CLOSE TO FWC MOS. TEMPS SHOULD FALL LITTLE
TONIGHT, AND COULD SEE SLOW RISE IN TEMPS LATE TONIGHT IN CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS AS THE WARM FRONT MOVES THROUGH, OR REDEVLOPS
TO THE NORTH. TEMPS SATURDAY WILL LIKELY RISE BACK INTO THE 80S IN
MOST AREAS, BUT WILL HOLD TEMPS DOWN A LITTLE IN THE NORTH.

.LZK...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 10, 12:31 AM CST, 5 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
131 AM CDT FRI MAY 10 2002

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

0105 AM    3 W BEARDEN               AR   .75 INCH HAIL
05/10/02   OUACHITA                       REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

22

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Ouachita

When: May 10, 6:30 AM CST
Where: Ouachita County, Countywide
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 33.593, -92.882 (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, May 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: 5296011.