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 17, 3:00 AM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 400 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 SLOW MOVING LOW SYSTEM WILL KEEP UNSTABLE CONDITIONS OVER THE STATE SO INCREASED POPS TO LIKELY FOR TODAY. FOR THE SAME REASONS...WILL KEEP A 30 PERCENT CHANCE TONIGHT AND LINGERING POPS OF 20 PERCENT FOR SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL HAVE A HARD TIME MAKING THE 80S TODAY...BUT THEY WILL BE ABLE TO REACH THEM FOR SUNDAYS HIGHS. NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE WITH THE NEXT FRONT IN MID WEEK. HIGH WILL SETTLE OVER THE STATE AFTER THAT...KEEPING HIGHS AND LOW RELATIVELY COOL. FCSTID = 32 HRO 70 60 77 60 / 60 30 20 10 LIT 75 64 81 66 / 60 30 20 10 HOT 75 65 81 67 / 60 30 20 10 PBF 77 66 82 68 / 60 30 20 10 .LZK...NONE.
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-074-075- 180945- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 446 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SEVERE WEATHER ON FRIDAY IS LOCATED IN WESTERN ARKANSAS AT THIS TIME. IT WILL SLOWLY DRIFT ACROSS THE STATE TODAY...BECOMING WEAKER AS IT DOES. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST UNTIL THE UPPER LEVEL LOW FINALLY CLEARS THE STATE LATE THIS AFTERNOON. ONLY SCATTERED SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TONIGHT WITH THE PRECIPITATION TAPERING OFF FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST. THERE IS ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY AND THAT WILL BE CONFINED TO MAINLY THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT OF THE STATE AS THE BEST DYNAMICS HAVE MOVED TO THE EAST. AS MUCH AS 4 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN MANY AREAS OF ARKANSAS ON FRIDAY. WHILE WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN IS NOT EXPECTED SATURDAY...ANY ADDITIONAL RAIN ON ALREADY SATURATED GROUND COULD LEAD TO PONDING OF WATER AND ADDITIONAL PROBLEMS. MANY AREA RIVERS HAVE RISEN TO OR ABOVE FLOOD STAGE FROM ALL THE HEAVY RAIN AND ASSOCIATED RUN OFF... PROMPTING NUMEROUS RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL DROP DOWN FROM THE NORTHWEST LATE MONDAY AND SHOULD PASS THROUGH THE STATE MONDAY NIGHT AND EARLY TUESDAY FOR ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER IS MINIMAL AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. 56
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
1140 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0928 PM BENTON AR FLASH FLOODS
05/16/03 SALINE FLOODING ALONG DALE ROAD
AND ALCOA ROAD. REPORTED BY
HAM RADIO OPERATOR.
1100 PM 3 N JACKSONVILLE AR FLASH FLOODS
05/16/03 PULASKI 6 INCHES OF WATER COVERING
ACCESS ROAD OF HWY 167 AND
67. REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
OPERATOR.
1115 PM BRINKLEY AR FLASH FLOODS
05/16/03 MONROE MANY STREETS FLOODED IN
BRINKLEY INCLUDING SOUTH
MAIN AND MAPLE AND HWY 49
NORTH. REPORTED BY HAM
RADIO OPERATOR.
218The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Excessive rainfall flooded a number of roads across Drew County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, May 2003
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: 5361184.