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 27, 2:51 PM CST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 351 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002 LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES OVER NEW MEXICO WITH WEAK HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE EASTERN U.S. AS A 500 MB HIGH BUILDS OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S. ON TUESDAY...NORTHWEST FLOW WILL INCREASE ACROSS THE STATE. THE ZONAL FLOW WILL COME TO AN END AND A MID LEVEL TROUGH WILL SET UP OVER THE CENTRAL PART OF THE U.S. SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW AN MCS OVER OKLAHOMA THAT CONTINUES TO MOVE EASTWARD TOWARD ARKANSAS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN WESTERN ARKANSAS ALONG AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM PREVIOUS STORMS. SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY CLOUDY ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT. WESTERN SECTIONS WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH A SHORT WAVE MOVING THROUGH THAT AREA. NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON TUESDAY WITH ANOTHER SHORT WAVE MOVING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST. MULTIPLE VORT MAXES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE WESTERN HALF OF THE STATE THROUGH THURSDAY. PREFER THE DRIER ETA OVER THE WETTER AVN BUT STILL THERE SHOULD BE PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO WORK WITH. WILL MAINLY STAY CLOSE TO THE FWC TEMPERATURES. FCSTID = 51 HRO 66 84 62 85 / 30 40 30 30 LIT 66 84 62 85 / 30 40 30 30 HOT 67 82 62 81 / 30 40 40 40 PBF 68 85 65 86 / 20 30 30 30 .LZK... AR...NONE.
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:57 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rainfall caused flash flooding to occur along Highway 88 west of Cherry Hill. Several county roads in the Cherry Hill area were also covered by high water for a short period of time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, May 2002
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: 5295904.