Flash Flood in Arkansas, April 23, 2004

Name: Flash Flood in Arkansas, April 23, 2004
Start: 2004-04-23T19:45
End: 2004-04-23T21:30
Location: Arkansas

April 23, 2004 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Water was over Arkansas Highway 37 about 1 mile east of Elgin.

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.

Water was over Arkansas Highway 37 about 1 mile east of Elgin.

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 Apr 23, 2:45 PM CST, 5 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 2:45 PM CST, 5 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
345 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY
STATIONARY SURFACE FRONT IS LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS THIS
AFTERNOON. CONVECTION IS DEVELOPING ACROSS OKLAHOMA. SHOWERS AND A
FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS THE CWFA...BUT THE MAIN SHOW WILL
BE LATER TONIGHT. ETA IS NOT QUITE AS AMBITIOUS AS THE GFS FOR POS
AND QPF. INCREASED POPS ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE NORTH. 3 TO 8 INCHES
OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH ARKANSAS THE LAST TWO DAYS
AND WILL CONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT. THE STORMS
DEVELOPING IN OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE INTO ARKANSAS TONIGHT. LI/S TO -8
ARE NOTED IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND THIS WILL BE ONE AREA TO WATCH
TONIGHT. SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS COULD SEE SOME THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AS
WELL TONIGHT. MOST OF THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NORTH OF THE
STATIONARY FRONT TONIGHT THOUGH. STRONG LIFT IS NOTED EARLY IN THE
DAY SATURDAY ON THE LATEST CROSS SECTIONS...THEN PRECIPITATION WILL
TAPER OFF TOMORROW AFTERNOON. THE COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS
THE AREA LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. STRONG STORMS ARE EXPECTED
AGAIN AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES THROUGH. SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS
CONTINUES TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY.
&&

.LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
HIGH PRESSURE MOVES IN FOR MONDAY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT THAT WILL
BRING AN END TO THE CURRENT PATTERN. COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE
EXPECTED FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY BEFORE TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO WARM UP
AGAIN. INCLUDED A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
LITTLE ROCK AR    65  76  61  72 /  60  60  70  80
HARRISON AR       58  69  54  66 /  90 100  60  60
HOT SPRINGS AR    66  75  60  72 /  60  60  70  70
PINE BLUFF AR     65  79  62  73 /  40  60  70  80
MOUNTAIN HOME AR  57  69  55  66 / 100 100  60  60
MONTICELLO AR     66  80  62  74 /  30  50  70  80
SEARCY AR         63  76  61  71 /  60  60  70  80
MOUNT IDA AR      66  74  58  72 /  60  60  70  70
RUSSELLVILLE AR   63  72  57  70 /  70  70  70  70
&&

.LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 600 AM
CDT SATURDAY FOR ZONES ARZ003>007...ARZ012>016...ARZ021>025...
ARZ030>034...ARZ037>039.
&&

51

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 23, 11:15 AM CST, 8 hours 30 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1215 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-241000-
ARKANSAS-BAXTER-BOONE-BRADLEY-CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND-
CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER-FULTON-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING-
INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE-
MARION-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-NEWTON-OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE-POLK-POPE-
PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-SEARCY-SHARP-STONE-VAN BUREN-WHITE-
WOODRUFF-YELL-
1215 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS.

.DAY ONE...REST OF TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOST OF THE
NORTHWEST HALF OF ARKANSAS NOW THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY MORNING.
ALSO...THERE IS A RISK OF FLASH FLOODING OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL AND
NORTHERN ARKANSAS THROUGH TONIGHT.

A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT WILL LINGER OVER THE AREA...KEEPING
UNSTABLE CONDITIONS IN ARKANSAS. ALSO...THE PRESENCE OF THE FRONT
WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE FLASH FLOODING POTENTIAL...SO A FLASH FLOOD
WATCH WILL EXIST TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT FOR NORTHERN AND PARTS OF
CENTRAL ARKANSAS.

MORE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OR MOVE INTO NORTHERN ARKANSAS LATER
THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SOME STORMS MAY BE SEVERE MAINLY DURING
THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND HEAVY RAIN IS
LIKELY...ESPECIALLY TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR ALL SECTIONS OF
THE STATE SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. THE WEATHER PATTERN WILL
CHANGE SLOWLY THROUGH SUNDAY. DRY AND QUIET WEATHER WILL RETURN TO
THE FORECAST MONDAY...AND CONTINUE DRY THROUGH THURSDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT OVER THE
WEST CENTRAL AND CENTRAL SECTIONS OF THE STATE.

38

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 23, 5:52 PM CST, 1 hour 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
652 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0645 PM     FLASH FLOOD      BATESVILLE              35.77N 91.62W
04/23/2004                   INDEPENDENCE       AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            SEVERAL ROADS FLOODED AND BARRICADED IN THE AREA. SOME
            CARS STALLED. WATER IN AT LEAST ONE HOUSE.

&&

22

Local storm report, Apr 23, 6:06 PM CST, 1 hour 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
706 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0703 PM     FLASH FLOOD      SWIFTON                 35.82N 91.13W
04/23/2004                   JACKSON            AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            SOME STREETS FLOODED IN TOWN.

&&

22

Local storm report, Apr 23, 7:16 PM CST, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
816 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0808 PM     FLASH FLOOD      2 NE TUCKERMAN          35.75N 91.18W
04/23/2004                   JACKSON            AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            STATE HIGHWAY 224 NORTHEAST OF TUCKERMAN IS CLOSED DUE TO
            HIGH WATER. STATE HIGHWAY 226 NORTHEAST OF TUCKERMAN IS
            BARRICADED IN SPOTS...BUT IS NOT CLOSED.

&&

22

Local storm report, Apr 23, 7:44 PM CST, 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
844 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0700 PM     FLASH FLOOD      4 NW MELROSE            35.78N 91.90W
04/23/2004                   STONE              AR   TRAINED SPOTTER

            WATER OVER STATE HIGHWAY 14 IN A FEW SPOTS BETWEEN

            MELROSE AND PLEASANT GROVE...BUT ROAD WAS NOT IMPASSABLE.

&&

22

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Jackson

When: April 23, 7:45 PM CST to 9:30 PM CST
Where: Jackson County, 1 mi E of Elgin
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.599, -91.215 (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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, April 2004

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: 5393278.