Heavy rain in late March and again in early April from a series of slow- moving frontal systems produced significant rises on the Ouachita River and tributaries. The lower portions of the Ouachita River remained above flood stage at the first of April and continued into May.
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.
Heavy rain in late March and again in early April from a series of slow- moving frontal systems produced significant rises on the Ouachita River and tributaries. The lower portions of the Ouachita River remained above flood stage at the first of April and continued into May.
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 Mar 31, 11:50 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1250 AM CDT TUE APR 1 2008 .AVIATION... A COLD FRONT CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF IT. THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED SOUTH OF A LINE FROM GLENWOOD TO BRINKLEY. LOW CLOUDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. MVFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT. CEILINGS WILL RAISE TUESDAY MORNING BUT REMAIN OVERCAST. VFR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED AFTER 15Z. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA TUESDAY AFTERNOON. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 637 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008/ AVIATION... TSRA MOVING INTO THE STATE...WITH STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN. CONDITIONS ARE MVFR...WITH OCCASIONAL IFR. CIGS AND VSBYS WILL FALL AS THE LINE OF TSRA APPROACHES...AND REMAIN LOW MVFR/IFR AS SHRA WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE LINE. CONDITIONS WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE DURING THE OVERNIGHT/EARLY MORNING HOURS...WITH VFR CONDITIONS BY MID DAY TUESDAY. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 220 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY FRONTAL BOUNDARY STALLED OUT IN OKLAHOMA HAS STARTED TO GAIN MOMENTUM...AND WILL CONTINUE TO APPROACH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY... WITH SEVERE WEATHER LIKELY ACROSS WESTERN ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. STORMS WILL START OUT AS DISCRETE CELLS AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WITH A SQUALL LINE EVOLVING AS THE FRONT ENTERS THE AREA TONIGHT. TORNADO THREAT WILL BE THE GREATEST IN THE WEST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON/ EARLY EVENING...WITH WIND/HAIL THREAT AS WELL. AS THE SQUALL LINE EVOLVES...DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE MORE OF A THREAT...AND PRIMARILY OVER CENTRAL/EASTERN ARKANSAS DURING THE LATE EVENING/OVERNIGHT HOURS. ONE TO THREE INCH RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE IN MUCH OF THE AREA...WITH LOCALIZED HEAVIER AMOUNTS. IT/S NOT GOING TO TAKE MUCH RAIN TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING...AND WITH THE RIDICULOUSLY HIGH AMOUNTS WE/VE HAD OVER NORTHERN AND WESTERN ARKANSAS LATELY...WILL CONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY. FRONT LOOKS TO BE NEAR OR A LITTLE THROUGH CENTRAL ARKANSAS AROUND DAYBREAK...WITH IT PASSING THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST DURING THE MORNING HOURS. ANY LINGERING PRECIP WILL COME TO AN END BY MID DAY...WITH HIGH PRESSURE SCOOTING BY THE AREA TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. THE FRONT WILL STALL OUT TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA LATE TUESDAY... THEN WILL START TO MOVE BACK TO THE NORTH ACROSS THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY. ISENTROPIC UPLIFT WILL ALLOW FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...AS SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL SYSTEMS MOVE THROUGH AND INTERACT WITH THE FRONT AS IT SLOWLY MOVES INTO THE REGION AND NEARLY STALLS. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL COULD OCCUR AS THE SYSTEMS REPEATEDLY MOVE OVER THE SAME AREAS...WITH SOME TWO TO THREE INCH AMOUNTS POSSIBLE OVER NORTHERN ARKANSAS. WILL HAVE TO MONITOR...AND WE MAY END UP ISSUING A FLASH FLOOD WATCH YET AGAIN. LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE STATE THURSDAY NIGHT...AND HAVE INCREASED POPS THURSDAY NIGHT TO LIKELY IN THE NORTH...AND CHANCE IN THE SOUTH. THE FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH MOST OF THE AREA ON FRIDAY...BUT ANOTHER WEAK SYSTEM WILL MOVE OVER THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT/EARLY SATURDAY. HAVE ADDED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THIS TIME FRAME. HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE IN FOR SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY...WITH DRY CONDITIONS RETURNING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 42 56 49 68 / 10 40 60 60 CAMDEN AR 50 67 58 81 / 10 20 30 30 HARRISON AR 38 51 49 64 / 10 40 60 60 HOT SPRINGS AR 48 60 56 75 / 10 30 40 40 LITTLE ROCK AR 47 60 54 75 / 10 30 40 40 MONTICELLO AR 51 65 58 80 / 10 20 30 30 MOUNT IDA AR 47 59 57 73 / 10 30 40 40 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 38 53 46 66 / 10 40 60 60 NEWPORT AR 42 56 51 71 / 10 40 60 60 PINE BLUFF AR 49 64 55 78 / 10 20 30 40 RUSSELLVILLE AR 43 58 52 72 / 10 40 60 60 SEARCY AR 47 60 52 74 / 10 30 60 60 STUTTGART AR 47 61 55 75 / 10 30 30 40 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 6 AM CDT EARLY THIS MORNING FOR CONWAY- FAULKNER-GARLAND-LONOKE-MONROE-PERRY-PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE- WHITE-WOODRUFF. && AVIATION...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1010 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011000- 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- 1010 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM HEAVY RAIN LAST WEEK WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE FLOODING OF RIVERS...STREAMS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS...MAINLY IN EASTERN ARKANSAS. THIS INCLUDES THE BLACK RIVER...THE LOWER WHITE RIVER AND THE CACHE RIVER. A COLD FRONT...CURRENTLY OVER NORTHWEST ARKANSAS...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT. THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO INTERACT WITH PLENTIFUL MOISTURE OVER THE STATE. THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL EXIST UNTIL THE COLD FRONT PASSES. WITH THE GROUND STILL SATURATED FROM RECENT RAINS...IT WILL NOT TAKE MUCH RAIN FOR FLASH FLOODING TO OCCUR. AS SUCH...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE STATE. THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL PARTS OF THE STATE AT THIS TIME. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT CONTINUES TO DISSIPATE BUT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH LATE EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY CONCERNS. HOWEVER...THERE IS SOME TURNING OF WIND WITH HEIGHT...WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL MORE DAYS ALONG THE BLACK AND CACHE RIVERS...AND THE LOWER REACHES OF THE WHITE RIVER. ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO PASS THROUGH THE AREA THURSDAY AND THURSDAY NIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER LOOKS POSSIBLE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THIS COLD FRONT THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THE MAIN CONCERN AT THIS TIME IS DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL AND FLASH FLOODING. THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER EVENT IS STILL SEVERAL DAYS OUT BUT WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 56
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
717 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0716 PM FLASH FLOOD SADDLE 36.35N 91.63W
03/31/2008 FULTON AR TRAINED SPOTTER
ALL LOW WATER CROSSINGS WERE REPORTED TO BE FLOODED.
&&
57PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
723 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0720 PM FLASH FLOOD GILBERT 35.99N 92.72W
03/31/2008 SEARCY AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
THE HIGHWAY 333 BRIDGE AT GILBERT IS FLOODED.
&&
57PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
754 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0750 PM FLASH FLOOD ALLISON 35.93N 92.12W
03/31/2008 STONE AR TRAINED SPOTTER
WATER WAS REPORTED TO BE OVERFLOWING DITCHES AND FLOODING
ROADS.
&&
57PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1112 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1055 PM HAIL 2 SW PINE BLUFF 34.19N 92.04W
03/31/2008 E0.75 INCH JEFFERSON AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
46The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Minor to moderate flooding occurred along the lower Ouachita River for most or all of the month of April. Damages were limited to scour on county roads. High water cut off access to timber and oil wells.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, April 2008
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: 98444.