An upper level low pressure center moving across Arkansas brought numerous thunderstorms and locally heavy rain on the morning of the 20th.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.
An upper level low pressure center moving across Arkansas brought numerous thunderstorms and locally heavy rain on the morning of the 20th.
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 Dec 19, 11:50 PM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1150 PM CST WED DEC 19 2007 .AVIATION... WARM FRONT TO THE SOUTH WITH MOISTURE OVERRUNNING IT HAS RESULTED IN LIFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES IN FOG AT MANY TAF SITES. THIS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT IF NOT UNTIL THE COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH LATER IN THE DAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS AND WILL REQUIRE TEMPO GROUPS AT ALL TAF SITES. AREAS NEAR RAIN OR THUNDER MAY ACTUALLY SEE IMPROVING CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES FOR AWHILE BUT CONDITIONS WILL LIKELY STAY AT IFR LEVELS OR WORSE. BY LATE AFTERNOON BEHIND THE FRONT...VFR CONDITIONS SHOULD MOVE IN. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 947 PM CST WED DEC 19 2007/ UPDATE... LOW CLOUDS HAVE CONTD TO SPREAD NWD OVR MUCH OF THE FA THIS EVENING. AREAS OF FOG ALSO NOTED ACRS MUCH OF THE REGION ATTM. STALLED OUT FNTL BNDRY NOTED VCNTY OF THE AR/LA BRDR AND EXPECT IT TO DRIFT SLOLY NWD LATER TNGT. ALREADY SEEING SOME SHRA/TSRA FORM TO OUR S IN RESPONSE TO INCRSG LIFT ASSOCD WITH APCHG UPR STORM SYS. COVERAGE WL CONT INCRSG DURG THE OVERNIGHT HRS AND THIS TREND IS COVERED BY GOING FCST. CLOUD COVER HAS KEPT TEMPS FAIRLY STEADY THIS EVENING AND ADJUSTED HRLY TEMPS TO REFLECT THIS TREND OVERNIGHT. REST OF FCST IN GOOD SHAPE. ALL UPDATES GONE. /44/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 41 56 40 60 / 40 50 10 10 CAMDEN AR 54 69 42 68 / 70 50 10 10 HARRISON AR 43 59 40 63 / 30 30 10 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 49 65 41 66 / 70 40 10 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 48 64 43 63 / 60 50 10 10 MONTICELLO AR 54 68 47 67 / 70 60 10 10 MOUNT IDA AR 48 66 36 67 / 50 30 10 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 40 58 37 61 / 30 40 10 10 NEWPORT AR 43 56 43 61 / 50 60 10 10 PINE BLUFF AR 52 66 45 65 / 70 60 10 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 45 64 35 66 / 40 30 10 10 SEARCY AR 42 60 41 61 / 50 60 10 10 STUTTGART AR 48 63 45 63 / 70 60 10 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...29
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1200 PM CST WED DEC 19 2007 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-201100- 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- 1200 PM CST WED DEC 19 2007 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE LATE TONIGHT. ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP AND A FEW OF THESE MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL WHICH COULD REACH MARGINALLY SEVERE LIMITS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS ARKANSAS MAINLY ON THURSDAY MORNING. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS COULD APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS DUE TO HAIL. A STRONGER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS ARKANSAS ON SATURDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LIKELY WITH THIS SYSTEM. CONDITIONS WILL BE MORE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER BUT THERE IS STILL A QUESTION AS TO HOW MUCH INSTABILITY WILL BE AVAILABLE. A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR ANY SEVERE STORMS WOULD BE IN THE SOUTHEAST WHERE INSTABILITY WOULD BE BETTER. PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 29
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:57 UTC.
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
About 325 power outages were reported in the Hot Springs area. Wires were downed in two locations and six transformers had to be replaced.
Lightning struck a house in the eastern part of Diaz. Apparently, the resulting fire smoldered for about two hours before the fire was noticed. Visibility was poor at the time, due to fog and continuous rain. By the time the fire alarm was turned in, flames were shooting well above the roof. The house was destroyed, and an elderly couple who lived there lost their lives. The fatalities were a male, 73, and a female, 70. A camping trailer and an all-terrain vehicle, which were parked near the house, were also damaged.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Jackson | 2007-12-20 | 73 | Male | Permanent Home | Indirect |
| Lightning, Jackson | 2007-12-20 | 70 | Female | Permanent Home | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2007Every state in 2007This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, December 2007
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: 65475, 63641.