An upper level disturbance moved through Missouri during the day on September 21st, 2008. A few strong storms developed over Northeast Arkansas as a result.
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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 MEG wrote it up.
An upper level disturbance moved through Missouri during the day on September 21st, 2008. A few strong storms developed over Northeast Arkansas as a result. One storm produced flash flooding.
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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 21, 3:11 AM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 411 AM CDT SUN SEP 21 2008 .DISCUSSION... THE MAIN CHALLENGE IS DETERMINING RAIN CHANCES TODAY. LATEST MODELS WERE IN GOOD GENERAL AGREEMENT FOR THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. MAINLY USED A BLEND OF MODEL DATA. DID NOT MAKE ANY MAJOR CHANGES TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST. AT 4 AM CDT ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH AND FORECAST AREA...MOIST AND MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS WERE OCCURRING WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE 60S. PATCHY FOG WAS REPORTED IN A FEW LOCATIONS. A FEW SHOWERS WERE DEVELOPING NEAR INTERSTATE 55...SOUTH OF BATESVILLE MS AND OVER NE AR/MO BOOTHEEL. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WAS NORTH OF THE AREA...CENTERED NEAR ST. LOUIS. TODAY...PATCHY FOG CAN BE EXPECTED THIS MORNING...REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO LESS THAN 3 MILES IN A FEW LOCATIONS. OTHERWISE...SKIES WILL BE MOSTLY CLOUDY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND PERHAPS A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TODAY...MAINLY NEAR INTERSTATE 55 WHERE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE WILL BE MAXIMIZED...FROM NEAR KENNETT MO TO MEMPHIS TO CHARLESTON MS. TIERED RAIN CHANCES FROM 20 TO 40...HIGHEST NEAR I-55 AND LOWEST NEAR TN RIVER/AL STATE LINE. NOT EXPECTING ALL DAY RAINS AS THERE WILL LIKELY BE MANY MORE DRY HOURS THAN WET ONES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY BE LIGHT AND LESS THAN 0.25 INCH. INCREASING MID LEVEL HEIGHTS AND DRIER MID LEVEL AIR MAY LIMIT COVERAGE THIS AFTERNOON...ALLOWING FOR SOME SUN...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF MEMPHIS. SUPPOSE A STRONG STORM OR TWO WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS COULD DEVELOP IF ENOUGH INSTABILITY COULD BE GENERATED FROM MORE SUN...BUT CONFIDENCE OF THIS REMAINS LOW...TOO LOW TO MENTION IN HWO. ABUNDANT CLOUDS SHOULD KEEP HIGHS DOWN IN THE UPPER 70S AND LOWER 80S. TONIGHT...DRIER AIR MOVING INTO THE AREA SHOULD ALLOW FOR RAINFREE CONDITIONS...THOUGH COULD NOT RULE OUT A STRAY EVENING SHOWER/STORM. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN ABUNDANT. THIS COMBINED WITH LIGHT WINDS AND CLEARING SKIES SHOULD ALLOW FOR GOOD FOG DEVELOPMENT...SO ADDED AREAS OF FOG AFTER MIDNIGHT. VISIBILITIES MAY BE REDUCED CONSIDERABLY...LESS THAN 1 MILE IN A FEW AREAS. NOT CONFIDENT ABOUT WIDESPREAD DENSE FOG. THIS TIME OF YEAR WITH SHORTER DAYS AND LONGER NIGHTS TYPICALLY ALLOWS FOR FOGGIER MORNINGS. LOWS WILL BE ON THE COOL SIDE...MAINLY IN THE MID 50S TO LOWER 60S...THOUGH THINK THE 00Z GFS MODEL GUIDANCE NUMBERS WERE TOO LOW. MONDAY...MORNING FOG WILL BURN OFF ALLOWING FOR A GOOD AMOUNT OF SUN. THUS...WARMER CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED. CANNOT ARGUE WITH GUIDANCE HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 80S. MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY...A PROLONGED PERIOD OF DRY AND MOSTLY CLEAR WEATHER IS EXPECTED WITH VIRTUALLY NO CHANCE FOR RAIN/HAZARDOUS WEATHER AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN. SOME MORNINGS MAY HAVE PATCHY FOG. TEMPERATURES WILL GENERALLY BE NEAR CLIMATOLOGICAL NORMS WITH A LARGER DIURNAL SPREAD THAN NORMAL WITH DRY AIR IN PLACE. HIGHS WILL MAINLY BE IN THE 80S AND LOWS WILL BE IN THE 55 TO 65 DEGREE RANGE...TYPICAL FOR LATE SEPTEMBER. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MEM 81 63 84 65 / 40 10 0 0 MKL 78 56 84 55 / 20 10 0 0 JBR 78 58 83 58 / 30 10 10 0 TUP 80 58 85 60 / 20 10 0 0 && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. && MBS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 343 AM CDT SUN SEP 21 2008 ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115- MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-221045- ALCORN-BENTON MS-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY-COAHOMA- CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DESOTO-DECATUR-DUNKLIN-DYER- FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD-HENDERSON-HENRY- ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEE AR-LEE MS-MADISON- MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION-PANOLA-PEMISCOT- PHILLIPS-POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN-RANDOLPH-SHELBY- ST. FRANCIS-TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON-TISHOMINGO-TUNICA- UNION-WEAKLEY-YALOBUSHA- 343 AM CDT SUN SEP 21 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS... THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. MBS
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:32 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain produced flash flooding in Paragould. Numerous streets and roads in and around Paragould were flooded as a result.
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, September 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: 134923.