On the 23rd, a weak cold front pushed into Arkansas from the Plains and stalled. A southwest wind flow aloft drove a storm system toward the state, with the system interacting with the front.
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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.
On the 23rd, a weak cold front pushed into Arkansas from the Plains and stalled. A southwest wind flow aloft drove a storm system toward the state, with the system interacting with the front. Isolated severe thunderstorms popped up in the western counties during the evening. The system passed over the region late on the 23rd and early on the 24th, with precipitation becoming more widespread.
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, 2:06 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 306 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT WATER VAPOR IMAGERY INDICATES AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...MOVING OVER WESTERN TEXAS....IN A WELL DEFINED SUBTROPICAL JET. LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM HAS PROMOTED THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONVECTION ACROSS A GOOD PORTION KANSAS...THROUGH MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS. CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EASTWARD TONIGHT...AS FAVORABLE SOUTHERLY FLOW PROMOTES LIFT AND MOISTURE TRANSPORT. THE CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE EFFICIENT RAINFALL. FORECAST STORM MOTION VECTORS SUGGEST THAT SOME OF THESE HEAVY RAINFALL PRODUCING CELLS MAY AFFECT MOVE INTO NORTHWEST SECTIONS OVERNIGHT. ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS ACROSS THIS AREA...ALONG WITH QPF SUGGEST THE RAINFALL MAY BE EXCESSIVE. RAINFALL SHOULD END FROM WEST TO EAST LATE THURSDAY. ANOTHER ROUND OF CONVECTION IS EXPECTED FOR FRIDAY...HOWEVER THIS PRECIPITATION EVENT SHOULD BE LESS INTENSE...AND WILL GIVER A SHORTER DURATION. && .LONG TERM...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE GFS HAS COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH THE ECMWF SOLUTION OVR THE LAST FEW RUNS. AN UPR TROF AND ASSOCIATED CDFNT WL BE MOVG ACRS AR SUN AND EARLY SUN NGT...WITH GOOD CHCS OF SHRA/TSRA EXPECTED. NWLY FLOW ALOFT WL BRING A WEAK UPR IMPULSE THRU THE AREA TUE AND TUE NGT...WITH JUST SOME INCRS IN MID AND HIGH LVL CLOUDS NOTED. THE UPR FLOW WL FLATTEN OUT BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AS THE AFOREMENTIONED UPR TROF SHIFTS FURTHER EWD AND A NEW UPR LOW DROPS INTO THE WRN STATES. SFC HIGH PRES WL SLIDE EWD ACRS AR MON AND THEN SHIFT EWD. THIS WL ALLOW SLY FLOW TO RETURN TO THE FA STARTING TUE AND CONTG THRU WED. LOW PRES WL BEGIN TO DVLP OVR THE PLAINS STATES BY MIDWEEK AS WELL...BUT THE SYS SHLD RMN FAR ENOUGH TO THE W TO RESULT IN A DRY FCST FOR MON THRU WED. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 61 74 60 77 / 60 70 20 50 CAMDEN AR 63 77 62 80 / 60 70 20 50 HARRISON AR 60 73 59 73 / 70 70 10 50 HOT SPRINGS AR 62 76 62 78 / 70 80 10 50 LITTLE ROCK AR 63 76 62 78 / 70 80 20 50 MONTICELLO AR 64 77 63 81 / 50 60 20 60 MOUNT IDA AR 62 75 62 77 / 80 80 10 50 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 60 73 59 75 / 60 70 20 50 NEWPORT AR 62 75 61 77 / 50 70 20 60 PINE BLUFF AR 64 77 63 79 / 60 70 20 60 RUSSELLVILLE AR 62 74 61 76 / 70 80 10 50 SEARCY AR 62 75 61 77 / 60 70 20 60 STUTTGART AR 64 76 62 79 / 60 70 20 60 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING FOR BAXTER-BOONE-JOHNSON-LOGAN-MARION-NEWTON-POPE-SCOTT- SEARCY-YELL. && SHORT TERM...55 / LONG TERM...46
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 246 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 ARZ003-012-232045- BOONE-NEWTON- 246 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR BOONE AND NEWTON COUNTIES UNTIL 345 PM CDT... AT 242 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN NEWTON COUNTY...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH. SMALL HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS. AREAS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED INCLUDE GAITHER MOUNTAIN...RED BANK...PINEY MOUNTAIN...HARRISON...BELLEFONTE...CAPPS AND BATAVIA. FREQUENT...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. IF OUTDOORS...STAY AWAY FROM ISOLATED HIGH OBJECTS SUCH AS TREES. MOVE INDOORS IF POSSIBLE. WHEN INDOORS...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND DOORS AND AVOID USING TELEPHONES UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY. 44
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 542 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 ARZ021-030-232310- JOHNSON-LOGAN- 542 PM CDT WED APR 23 2008 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR JOHNSON AND LOGAN COUNTIES UNTIL 615 PM CDT... AT 538 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR LAKE DARDANELLE...MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH. SMALL HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 40 AND 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. IF ON OR NEAR LAKE DARDANELLE...GET OUT OF THE WATER AND MOVE INDOORS OR INSIDE A VEHICLE. REMEMBER...LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE OUT TO 15 MILES FROM THE PARENT THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER NOW. DONT BE CAUGHT ON THE WATER IN A THUNDERSTORM TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED MINOR FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREA. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ADVISED TO EXPECTED REDUCED VISIBILTY DUE TO THE VERY HEAVY RAIN. 57
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:54 UTC.
1 lightning, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a natural gas line, causing an explosion. Three residences near the area were evacuated.
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: 91884, 91882.