Flash Flooding in Arkansas, April 24, 2004

Name: Flash Flooding in Arkansas, April 24, 2004
Start: 2004-04-24T04:15
End: 2004-04-24T13:00
Location: Arkansas

April 24, 2004 · NWS LZK · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 6 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: 6

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.

Heavy rainfall between 6 and 10 inches fell over a large part of northern Arkansas over a 3 day period through the morning of the 24th, resulting in widespread flash flooding over the north part of the state. Numerous county roads and bridges were flooded by several feet of water and were impassable for a period of time. Some county roads also sustained damage due to washouts. Several unoccupied vehicles were also washed off roads in the region. Mudslides were also reported on some highways in the higher terrain of the Ozarks.

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 24, 3:00 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 3:00 AM CST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
400 AM CDT SAT APR 24 2004

.DISCUSSION...
PATTERN SHOULD FINALLY CHANGE AS THE WEEKEND PROGRESSES AND BRING AN
END TO THE SEIGE OF HEAVY RAIN AND SEVERE WEATHER...BUT NOT RIGHT
AWAY. FRONTAL BOUNDARY GOT PUSHED INTO SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS BUT
EXPECT IT TO QUICKLY LIFT BACK NORTH DURING THE DAY. MOST OF THE RAIN
AGAIN IN WESTERN AND NORTHERN AREAS BUT IT SHOULD SLOWLY SPREAD TO THE
EAST DURING THE DAY AS THE UPPER LOW IN THE WEST STARTS TO MOVE OUT
TO THE NORTHEAST. WILL START OUT WITH CHANCE POPS IN THE SOUTHEAST
INCREASING TO CATEGORICAL IN THE NORTHWEST THEN SHOW INCREASE IN
POPS DURING THE DAY. THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA TONIGHT AND
SLOWLY MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND SHOULD MOVE OFF TO THE EAST ON
SUNDAY. THE BEST CHANCE OF RAIN AND HEAVIEST RAIN WILL LIKELY
ACCOMPANY THE FRONT TONIGHT. WILL GO WITH 90 PERCENT POPS ACROSS
THE AREA TONIGHT AND WILL STRESS HEAVY RAIN. THE INSTABILITY AND
DYNAMICS ALSO SUGGEST A CHANCE OF SEVERE STORMS...BUT THAT IS NOT
LOOKING AS SERIOUS AS THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT SO WILL PLAY UP THE
HEAVY RAINS BUT NOT PLAY UP SEVERE WEATHER IN THE ZONES. RAIN SHOULD
DECREASE FROM THE WEST LATE TONIGHT AND WILL LOWER POPS THERE.
CHANCES OF RAIN WILL DECREASE SUNDAY AS THE FRONT MOVES AWAY AND
THE UPPER TROF PASSES OVER THE AREA. WILL KEEP HIGH POPS EARLY IN
THE EAST BUT HAVE ALL RAIN OUT OF THE FORECAST BY THE END OF THE
DAY. A SECONDARY SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH LATE SUNDAY NIGHT AND
EARLY MONDAY. SOME MOISTURE ACCOMPANIES THIS SYSTEM BUT WILL ONLY
FORECAST AN INCREASE IN CLOUDS FOR NOW AND NO MENTION OF RAIN.
MADE ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO TEMP FORECASTS.

DUE TO ACTIVE WEATHER...DID NOT MAKE MANY CHANGES TO EXTENDED EXCEPT
TO BRING FORECASTS OF SOME ELEMENTS MORE IN LINE WITH SURROUNDING
OFFICES.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
LITTLE ROCK AR    75  61  73  54 /  60  90  80  10
HARRISON AR       68  54  67  48 /  90  90  50  10
HOT SPRINGS AR    74  61  73  54 /  70  90  70  10
PINE BLUFF AR     78  63  74  54 /  50  90  80  10
MOUNTAIN HOME AR  68  54  67  48 /  90  90  60  10
MONTICELLO AR     79  64  75  55 /  40  90  90  10
SEARCY AR         75  60  72  53 /  70  90  80  10
MOUNT IDA AR      73  60  73  54 /  70  90  70  10
RUSSELLVILLE AR   71  58  71  53 /  80  90  60  10
&&

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

29

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 24, 4:00 AM CST, 15 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
500 AM CDT SAT APR 24 2004

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-251000-
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-
500 AM CDT SAT APR 24 2004

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS ARKANSAS TODAY AND
TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
THE ENTIRE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTAIN
HEAVY RAINFALL. HEAVY RAINS ON SATURATED GROUND IN NORTHERN AND
PARTS OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS COULD CAUSE FLASH FLOODING.

HEAVY RAINS IN THE REST OF THE AREA COULD CAUSE SOME FLOODING OF
LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...ESPECIALLY TONIGHT.

THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.
ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ANY TIME TODAY AND TONIGHT...
BUT THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE DURING THE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TODAY IN NORTHERN AND
PARTS OF CENTRAL ARKANSAS AND THE WATCH WILL LIKELY BE EXTENDED
INTO TONIGHT IN MUCH OF THE SAME AREA...AND ADDITIONAL AREAS
MAY BE INCLUDED.

THE HEAVY RAINS WILL ALSO RESULT IN RISING RIVERS AND RIVER FLOODING
WILL OCCUR IN SOME AREAS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

RAIN WILL DECREASE SUNDAY. HEAVY RAINS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE AREA
BUT SOME FLOODING FROM RUNOFF COULD CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY. ALSO
RIVER FLOODING WILL CONTINUE IN SOME AREAS FOR SEVERAL DAYS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ANYWHERE IN ARKANSAS AT ANY TIME
TODAY AND TONIGHT.

29

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 23, 10:32 PM CST, 5 hours 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1132 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

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

1125 PM     HAIL             NEW SPADRA              35.43N 93.52W
04/23/2004  0.88 INCH        JOHNSON            AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

22

Local storm report, Apr 23, 10:45 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1145 PM CDT FRI APR 23 2004

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

1133 PM     HAIL             CLARKSVILLE             35.46N 93.47W
04/23/2004  1.00 INCH        JOHNSON            AR   EMERGENCY MNGR

1133 PM     HAIL             5 NNE CLARKSVILLE       35.52N 93.44W
04/23/2004  1.00 INCH        JOHNSON            AR   EMERGENCY MNGR

            NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL IN LUDWIG.

&&

22

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Boone

When: April 24, 4:15 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Boone County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.309, -93.091 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Johnson

When: April 24, 5:00 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Johnson County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.570, -93.460 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Marion

When: April 24, 6:18 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Marion County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.268, -92.684 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Baxter

When: April 24, 6:40 AM CST to 1:00 PM CST
Where: Baxter County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.287, -92.337 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Newton

When: April 24, 6:45 AM CST to 12:00 PM CST
Where: Newton County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.920, -93.218 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Searcy

When: April 24, 9:00 AM CST to 12:30 PM CST
Where: Searcy County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.911, -92.699 (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: 5393283, 5393285, 5393365, 5393366, 5393284, 5393364.