Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 17, 2002

Name: Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Arkansas, May 17, 2002
Start: 2002-05-17T00:18
End: 2002-05-17T08:00
Location: Arkansas

May 17, 2002 · NWS TSA · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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

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: 3

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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 16, 6:53 PM CST, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 6:53 PM CST, 5 hours 25 minutes before

EASTERN OKLAHOMA/NORTHWEST ARKANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
753 PM CDT THU MAY 16 2002

COMPLICATED SFC PATTERN THIS EVENING WITH MULTIPLE BOUNDARIES ACROSS
AREA.  COLD FRONT LOCATED NEAR MCI EXTENDING SW INTO OK PANHANDLE.
FURTHER SOUTH INVERTED SFC TROUGH OVER NW OK AND SECONDARY WEAKER
BOUNDARY ACROSS SE OK.  ELEVATED CONVECTION HAS DEVELOP OVER
SOUTH-CENTRAL OK/NORTH TEXAS IN RESPONSE TO WEAK UPPER WAVE THAT
MOVED OUT OF MEXICO EARLIER TODAY.  ELEVATED INSTABILITIES WILL
REMAIN MARGINAL THIS EVENING...BUT STRONGER CELLS COULD BRIEFLY
APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS AS ACTIVITY MOVES EAST ACROSS SE OK THIS
EVENING.

STRONGER CONVECTION WILL LIKELY DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AS MAIN UPPER
DISTURBANCE MOVES OUT INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. SCT TSTMS COULD
DEVELOP LATER THIS EVENING ALONG INVERTED SFC TROUGH OVER
NORTH-CENTRAL/ NORTHEAST OK...BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD AS COLD FRONT
PUSHES SOUTH INTO FA LATE TONIGHT.  THE HEAVIEST PRECIP EXPECTED
AFTER 300 AM... CONTINUING THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS BEFORE PUSHING
EAST OF FA BY MID AFTERNOON FRIDAY.

FLASH FLOOD WATCH STILL LOOKS GOOD AS WIDESPREAD 2-3 INCH RAINFALL
AMOUNTS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF FA THROUGH FRIDAY
AFTERNOON. WILL UPDATE TO TWEAK CURRENT FORECAST GIVEN LATEST
TRENDS...OTHERWISE NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES ANTICIPATED THIS EVENING.

FCSTID = 12

.TSA...
AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH  UNTIL NOON CDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
ARZ001>002...ARZ010>011...ARZ019>020...ARZ029.

OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM UNTIL NOON CDT FRIDAY FOR ZONES
OKZ054>076.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 16, 11:12 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1212 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

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

1208 AM    5 S PRUE                  OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/16/02   TULSA                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 16, 11:12 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1212 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

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

1208 AM    5 S PRUE                  OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/17/02   TULSA                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 16, 11:18 PM CST, 1 hour before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1218 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

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

0905 PM    3 S ANTLERS               OK   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/02   PUSHMATAHA

Local storm report, May 16, 11:48 PM CST, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1248 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

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

1242 AM    TULSA                     OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/17/02   TULSA                          51ST AND YALE. REPORTED BY
                                          TRAINED SPOTTER.

Local storm report, May 16, 11:53 PM CST, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1253 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

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

1215 AM    3 S SANDSPRINGS           OK   .88 INCH HAIL
05/17/02   TULSA                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 17, 12:09 AM CST, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
109 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

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

0100 AM    BROKEN ARROW              OK   .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/02   TULSA                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:18 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Madison

When: May 17, 12:18 AM CST
Where: Madison County, Pettigrew
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.817, -93.650

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs.

Flash Flood, Benton

When: May 17, 4:00 AM CST to 8:00 AM CST
Where: Benton County, Countywide
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.339, -94.256 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorms produced heavy rain over Benton County during the early morning hours. The heavy rain caused a few roads to be closed including Patterson Road 2 miles east of Pea Ridge and Kirchlow Road near Siloam Springs.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sebastian

When: May 17, 5:00 AM CST
Where: Sebastian County, 1 mi W of Hartford
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 35.017, -94.400

Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 miles an hour blew down large tree limbs.

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.
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: 5295233, 5295235, 5295234.