A stalled front brought more scattered showers and thunderstorms on the 5th. Storms became severe in the central third of Arkansas.
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.
A stalled front brought more scattered showers and thunderstorms on the 5th. Storms became severe in the central third of Arkansas.
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 Jul 5, 11:45 AM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED FOR AVIATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1245 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 .AVIATION... MAINLY VFR THE REST OF SATURDAY. ISOLATED MVFR CEILINGS WITH SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. HIGHEST CHANCES OF MVFR WITH CONVECTION WILL BE AT KHRO AND KBPK. WEAKENING FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER NORTH CENTRAL AR WILL FOCUS CONVECTION...AS WELL AS NE TO E WINDS NORTH OF BOUNDARY WHILE S TO SW WINDS SOUTH OF BOUNDARY. OVERNIGHT THE WEAKENING BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO DRIFT NORTHEAST. SOME PATCHY FOG EXPECTED OVERNIGHT IN AREAS WHERE RAIN FALLS. (59) && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1006 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008/ .UPDATE... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE THIS MORNING...AND HAVE UPDATED GRIDS/ZONES TO REALIGN POP TRENDS. MUCH OF THE ACTIVITY TODAY WILL BE FOCUSED ALONG THE NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY THAT IS ALIGNED ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS. RAINFALL CHANCES WILL BE GREATEST ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM FORT SMITH TO PINE BLUFF. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED...SOME ISOLATED PULSE STORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO A CONCERN...AS STORMS WILL NOT MOVE MUCH. UPDATED GRIDS AND ZONES ALREADY SENT. && PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 320 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH TUESDAY NOT MANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE MODELS THIS MORNING IN THE SYNOPTIC SCALE BUT THE USUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE SMALLER SCALE FEATURES CONTINUE. DIFFERENCES SHOULD NOT HAVE A LARGE IMPACT ON OUR SENSIBLE WEATHER THIS PERIOD AND WILL GO WITH A BLEND OF MODEL SOLUTIONS THIS MORNING WITH A LEAN TOWARD THE MORE CONSISTENT GFS. MAJOR FEATURES SHOWING UP QUITE CLEARLY ON MOISTURE CHANNEL IMAGERY THIS MORNING. UPPER FLOW CHARACTERIZED BY WESTERN US RIDGING AND TROFFING OVER THE OHIO VALLEY WITH NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUING EARLY IN THE PERIOD. THE UPPER TROF EVENTUALLY CLOSES OFF INTO AN UPPER LOW BY SUNDAY MORNING WHICH WEAKENS AND PULLS OFF TO THE NORTHEAST WITH UPPER LEVEL RIDGING RETURNING OVER THE SOUTHERN CONUS EARLY MONDAY. RIDGE WILL THEN BE THE DOMINATE WEATHER FEATURE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD WITH PREVAILING WESTERLIES SUPPRESSED TO THE NORTHERN TIER STATES. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY EXTENDING ROUGHLY FROM BLYTHEVILLE TO FORT SMITH. MODELS HAVE THE BOUNDARY POSSIBLE GETTING JUST A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH BEFORE IT BEGINS TO LIFT OUT AND DISSIPATE BY EARLY SUNDAY. STILL ONE MORE ROUND OF CONVECTION TO DEAL WITH AS UPPER IMPULSE DROPS DOWN FROM THE NORTHWEST TODAY AND EXPECTING A SITUATION SIMILAR TO FRIDAY MORNING DURING THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING TIME FRAME. MODELS CONTINUE TO HIT A MID LEVEL JET MAX MOVING FROM NORTHWEST ARKANSAS INTO LOUISIANA. BELIEVE THIS FEATURE MAY BE UNDERDONE BY THE MODELS AND WILL GO ABOVE GUIDANCE POPS HERE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS A POSSIBILITY WITH PWATS IN EXCESS OF 1.75 INCHES DURING THIS TIME FRAME. ENOUGH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY EXISTS FOR DIURNAL TYPE PRECIPITATION SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS WELL BUT ONLY CHANCE TO SLIGHT CHANCES POPS CAN BE JUSTIFIED. REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD LOOKS HOT AND GENERALLY DRY AS UPPER RIDGING RETURNS TO THE AREA. EVEN DIURNAL PRECIPITATION MONDAY LOOKS HARD TO COME BY AS AIRMASS BE WARMING AND APPEARS CAPPED. UPPER LEVEL IMPULSE APPROACHES LATE TUESDAY WHICH WILL WEAKEN THE RIDGE JUST ENOUGH TO WARRANT CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE NORTH AND SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE CENTRAL SECTIONS LATE. TEMPERATURES WILL BE WARMING UNDER THE EXPANDING RIDGE WITH UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S TODAY AND WIDESPREAD 90S SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL HOVER NEAR 70 DEGREES AREA WIDE. MAV/MEX NUMBERS LOOK REASONABLE AND ARE GENERALLY ACCEPTED. LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT... MODELS SHOW AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE PLAINS TO START THE PERIOD... POISED TO MOVE INTO ARKANSAS. THE TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH ARKANSAS WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL INCREASE AS THIS TROUGH TRAVERSES THE STATE. BEST CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DISSIPATE WEST TO EAST THURSDAY EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE TAKES A STRONGER HOLD ON THE STATE FRIDAY AND WILL KEEP THE AREA DRY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 58
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1230 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-061000- 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- 1230 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON IN THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE STATE. THIS INCLUDES AREAS NORTH OF A LINE FROM WALDRON TO DUMAS. ISOLATED STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE. HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO A CONCERN...AS MOISTURE AMOUNTS ARE HIGH...AND THE STORMS WILL HAVE VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT. THE STORMS WILL BEGIN TO DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN ON SUNDAY AND MONDAY...IN A TYPICAL SUMMERTIME PATTERN. THE NEXT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL WILL MOVE IN FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...AS ANOTHER COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE REGION AND THEN STALLS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 58
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 41 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:05 UTC.
3 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a house, setting it on fire. The one year-old home was destroyed, with only the foundation and parts of the brick walls remaining.
Water was covering several roadways.
Power lines were down.
Power lines were down near the intersection of Arkansas Highway 343 and 152.
Several roads were flooded.
Trees were blown down.
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, July 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: 129055, 124610, 124603, 124605, 124607, 124608, 124604, 124609, 124606.