A deep upper level low pressure system across northern Mexico into the Big Bend area of west Texas moved very slowly towards the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley during the afternoon of March 18th into the overnight hours. Convection developed along and north of the interstate 30 corridor of northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma and southwest Arkansas with widespread flash flooding…
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 SHV wrote it up.
A deep upper level low pressure system across northern Mexico into the Big Bend area of west Texas moved very slowly towards the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley during the afternoon of March 18th into the overnight hours. Convection developed along and north of the interstate 30 corridor of northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma and southwest Arkansas with widespread flash flooding reported across portions of the region. Along with the flash flooding...severe thunderstorms produced tornadoes across portions of northeast Texas during the late evening hours of March 18th as well.
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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 11:44 AM CST, 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1244 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008
.UPDATE...
TO BRING GRIDS IN LINE WITH OBS TRENDS AND ISSUE WIND ADVISORY FOR
LA AND S. ARK. NEW TEXT PRODUCTS ON THE WAY. /24/
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1111 AM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008/
UPDATE...
UPDATE TO INCLUDE TORNADO WATCH 131 INFORMATION IN TEXT PRODUCTS. /24/
PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1046 AM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008/
DISCUSSION...
UPDATE TO FORECAST TO INCLUDE WATCH INFORMATION. ALSO TO BUMP
HIGHS AND POPS OVER THE SOUTHEAST. NEW PRODUCTS AVAILABLE SOON. /24/
AVIATION...
CIGS WILL ALTERNATE BETWEEN MVFR/VFR TODAY. SOUTH WINDS MAY GUST TO
35 KTS AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON ESPECIALLY WHERE BREAKS IN CLOUDS
OCCUR ALLOWING BETTER MIXING. DISCRETE THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR
TODAY OVER THE AREA...POSSIBLY SEVERE. PERSISTENT RAINFALL...HEAVY
AT TIMES...WILL OCCUR ALONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT WILL CREEP EAST
INTO AREA. FRONT IS THROUGH DFW AT 16Z...WILL COME THROUGH TYR NEAR
00Z AND SHV NEAR 05Z. CIGS WILL BECOME MVFR/IFR WITHIN PRECIP AND
TSTMS. /17/
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SHV 50 61 37 71 / 80 20 0 0
MLU 54 64 39 68 / 80 20 0 0
DEQ 46 59 32 70 / 80 20 0 0
TXK 48 59 39 71 / 80 20 0 0
ELD 52 61 36 69 / 100 20 0 0
TYR 47 60 42 72 / 70 0 0 0
GGG 47 59 39 71 / 70 0 0 0
LFK 49 62 38 72 / 70 0 0 0
&&
.SHV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: COLUMBIA...HEMPSTEAD...HOWARD...LAFAYETTE...LITTLE
RIVER...MILLER...NEVADA...SEVIER...AND UNION AR.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
COLUMBIA...LAFAYETTE...AND UNION AR.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 PM TUESDAY TO 6 AM WEDNESDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: COLUMBIA...LAFAYETTE...AND UNION AR.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
HEMPSTEAD...HOWARD...LITTLE RIVER...MILLER...NEVADA...AND
SEVIER.
LA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: BOSSIER...CADDO...CLAIBORNE...UNION LA...AND
WEBSTER.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 PM TUESDAY TO 6 AM WEDNESDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES:
BIENVILLE...BOSSIER...CADDO...CALDWELL...CLAIBORNE...DE
SOTO...GRANT...JACKSON...LA
SALLE...LINCOLN...NATCHITOCHES...OUACHITA...RED
RIVER...SABINE LA...UNION LA...WEBSTER...AND WINN.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
BIENVILLE...BOSSIER...CADDO...CALDWELL...CLAIBORNE...DE
SOTO...GRANT...JACKSON...LA
SALLE...LINCOLN...NATCHITOCHES...OUACHITA...RED
RIVER...SABINE LA...UNION LA...WEBSTER...AND WINN.
OK...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES: AND MCCURTAIN.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
AND MCCURTAIN.
TX...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
ZONES:
ANGELINA...BOWIE...CAMP...CASS...CHEROKEE...FRANKLIN...GREGG...HARRISON...MARION...MORRIS...NACOGDOCHES...PANOLA...RED
RIVER...RUSK...SHELBY...SMITH...TITUS...UPSHUR...AND WOOD.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
ANGELINA...BOWIE...CAMP...CASS...CHEROKEE...FRANKLIN...GREGG...HARRISON...MARION...MORRIS...NACOGDOCHES...PANOLA...RED
RIVER...RUSK...SMITH...TITUS...UPSHUR...AND WOOD.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 PM TUESDAY TO 6 AM WEDNESDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: SABINE TX...SAN AUGUSTINE...AND SHELBY.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM TUESDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: SABINE
TX...SAN AUGUSTINE...AND SHELBY.
&&
24HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 1203 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077-TXZ096- 097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-191100- ANGELINA-BIENVILLE-BOSSIER-BOWIE-CADDO-CALDWELL-CAMP-CASS-CHEROKEE- CLAIBORNE-COLUMBIA-DE SOTO-FRANKLIN-GRANT-GREGG-HARRISON-HEMPSTEAD- HOWARD-JACKSON-LA SALLE-LAFAYETTE-LINCOLN-LITTLE RIVER-MARION- MCCURTAIN-MILLER-MORRIS-NACOGDOCHES-NATCHITOCHES-NEVADA-OUACHITA- PANOLA-RED RIVER LA-RED RIVER TX-RUSK-SABINE LA-SABINE TX- SAN AUGUSTINE-SEVIER-SHELBY-SMITH-TITUS-UNION AR-UNION LA-UPSHUR- WEBSTER-WINN-WOOD- 1203 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...EAST TEXAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...EVENING AND PORTIONS OF THE OVERNIGHT HOURS OVER THE FOUR STATE AREA. THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO DEVELOP AND REACH OR EXCEED SEVERE LIMITS...WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY GUSTY WINDS. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORM CLUSTERS MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS...AND THEN OTHER ISOLATED SUPER CELL THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME TORNADIC. IN ADDITION...FLASH FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE...MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH OF A LUFKIN... TEXAS TO FARMERVILLE...LOUISIANA LINE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER...HAM RADIO OPERATOR...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. 24
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
113 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0109 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 5 W HAWKINS 32.59N 95.29W
03/18/2008 WOOD TX BROADCAST MEDIA
TREE FELL THROUGH HOUSE ON US HWY 80
&&
12The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 158 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:16 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several secondary roads were flooded and under water including Highway 70. Water was reported in several homes in town. Highway 70 was closed.
Water was across Pine Creek Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, March 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: 87585, 87586.