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 29, 1:54 AM CST, 6 hours 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 254 AM CDT WED MAY 29 2002 FORECAST PROBLEMS ARE STILL RAIN CHANCES AND AMOUNTS IN THE SHORT TERM. UPPER LOW WAS OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA EARLY THIS MORNING...SLIGHTLY FASTER THAN MODEL PROGS FROM YESTERDAY. MODELS AGREE PRETTY WELL THROUGH 36 HOURS AND THEN DIVERGE ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE LOW...BUT BY THAT TIME IT SHOULD BE SOUTH OF OUR AREA AND LESS OF A PLAYER IN OUR SENSIBLE WEATHER. THE PSEUDO-WARM CORE BEHAVIOR OF THE UPPER LOW CONTINUES...WITH CONVECTION ON THE PERIPHERY FIRING DURING THE DAY AND DYING OFF AT NIGHT...THEN NEW CONVECTION REDEVELOPING NEAR THE CENTER OVERNIGHT. 00Z RADIOSONDE OBSERVATIONS SHOW A NEARLY BAROTROPIC SYSTEM AT 500 MB...SO THE AVN MAY HAVE BEEN CORRECT YESTERDAY IN GRADUALLY TRANSITIONING THE LOW FROM COLD CORE TO WARM CORE. THE TREND OF THE PAST FEW DAYS HAS BEEN FOR MOST CONVECTION TO REMAIN SOUTH AND EAST OF THE LOW CENTER...WITH MINIMAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE NORTHWEST SEMICIRCLE...PARTICULARLY AT NIGHT. WILL USE THIS IDEA TO FORMULATE POPS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS...WITH A HEDGE TOWARD CONTINUITY TO AVOID TOO MUCH YO YO SYNDROME. REGARDING THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH...GUIDANCE VALUES ARE LOWEST IN THE WESTERN COUNTIES...AND THESE COUNTIES WILL ALSO SPEND THE MOST TIME IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THE CENTER OF THE LOW AS IT DRIFTS SOUTHEAST. THEREFORE...WILL CONTINUE FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TODAY...AND EXPAND IT TO ENCOMPASS AREAS FROM HARRISON...TO HOT SPRINGS...TO MURFREESBORO. SEVERAL COUNTIES IN THIS AREA HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN CONSIDERABLE RAIN OVERNIGHT...AND THE AREA WILL ALSO INCLUDE A COUPLE OF CITIES WHICH ARE HISTORICALLY FLOOD PRONE. LITTLE OR NO CHANGE ANTICIPATED IN THE EXTENDED PERIODS. FOCUS WILL BE ON FIRST 24-48 HOURS. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... HRO 72 60 79 62 84 / 70 30 30 10 LIT 80 66 82 66 87 / 70 40 30 10 HOT 80 65 81 65 87 / 80 50 40 10 PBF 81 67 82 67 87 / 70 40 50 20 .LZK...FLOOD WATCH TODAY ARZ003-012-021-022-030-037-038-040>042-052. 54
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:12 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding around the Woodberry area. Several county roads, as well as Highway 274, were covered by high water and resulted in closures.
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: 5295905.