High pressure during the first week of the month brought dry air to Arkansas, along with an increasing threat of wildfires.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
High pressure during the first week of the month brought dry air to Arkansas, along with an increasing threat of wildfires.
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 Feb 5, 5:44 AM CST, 7 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 544 AM CST THU FEB 5 2009 .AVIATION... HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE MOVING EAST OF THE AREA TODAY. SKIES WILL BE CLEAR. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL INCREASE DURING THE DAY AND SOUTH WINDS WILL INCREASE. GUSTS TO 22KT ARE EXPECTED. WINDS SHOULD DECREASE AFTER SUNSET. VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 444 AM CST THU FEB 5 2009/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT HIGH PRESSURE WILL SHIFT TO THE EAST TODAY...WITH WINDS BECOMING SOUTHERLY. THIS WILL START A WARMUP THAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. LOOKING ALOFT...NORTHWEST FLOW IS ENDING...WITH MORE OF A SPLIT FLOW IN THE COMING DAYS. POLAR JET WILL CONTINUE TO BRING ARCTIC AIR TO THE UPPER MIDWEST...GREAT LAKES REGION AND NEW ENGLAND. SOME OF THIS AIR WILL TRY TO BUILD SOUTHWARD WITH A COLD FRONT SATURDAY/SUNDAY. THE FRONT WILL LIKELY STALL NORTH OF THE REGION...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS NORTH OF LITTLE ROCK NEAR THE FRONT. IN ARKANSAS...SOUTHERN BRANCH WILL BECOME MORE DOMINANT...WITH STORM SYSTEMS APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTHWEST. ONE SUCH SYSTEM WILL BE IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS AS THE PERIOD ENDS. AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF ARKANSAS SUNDAY NIGHT. OTHER THAN WARMER TEMPERATURES AND CHANCES FOR RAIN IN THE COMING DAYS...IT WILL ALSO BECOME BREEZY AT TIMES. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF LAKE WIND ADVISORIES WERE POSTED THIS WEEKEND...ESPECIALLY IN NORTHERN/WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE NORTHEAST THROUGH THE PLAINS MONDAY AND INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST TUESDAY. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE OVER ARKANSAS AS ANOTHER UPPER LOW DIVES INTO THE SOUTHWEST U.S. THE LOW WILL MOVE INTO OKLAHOMA LATE TUESDAY AND NORTHEAST INTO THE PLAINS WEDNESDAY. TWO COLD FRONTS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE LONG TERM PERIOD. THE FIRST OF THE FRONTS WILL MOVE THROUGH ARKANSAS MONDAY AND BRING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MUCH OF THE DYNAMICS WILL MOVE NORTH OF THE STATE AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DO NOT APPEAR LIKELY AT THIS TIME. A BOUNDARY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY AND WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST. THE SECOND COLD FRONT WILL BE DRIVEN EAST WEDNESDAY BY A LOW PRESSURE AREA IN THE SOUTHWEST U.S. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LIKELY ON WEDNESDAY WITH THE FRONT. MORE OF THE DYNAMICS APPEAR TO MOVE THROUGH ARKANSAS AND SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE A GREATER THREAT WITH THIS SYSTEM. TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 49 34 59 47 / 0 0 0 0 CAMDEN AR 58 41 68 52 / 0 0 0 0 HARRISON AR 56 42 64 50 / 0 0 0 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 56 37 65 50 / 0 0 0 0 LITTLE ROCK AR 54 38 63 50 / 0 0 0 0 MONTICELLO AR 55 38 67 50 / 0 0 0 0 MOUNT IDA AR 58 37 64 49 / 0 0 0 0 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 54 38 60 49 / 0 0 0 10 NEWPORT AR 48 34 58 49 / 0 0 0 0 PINE BLUFF AR 55 38 66 50 / 0 0 0 0 RUSSELLVILLE AR 55 34 64 48 / 0 0 0 0 SEARCY AR 50 35 61 49 / 0 0 0 0 STUTTGART AR 51 37 61 50 / 0 0 0 0 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CST THU FEB 5 2009 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-061100- 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- 500 AM CST THU FEB 5 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT ON MONDAY WILL BRING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME AS THE LOW IS EXPECTED TO MOVE WELL NORTH OF ARKANSAS. THIS SITUATION WILL BE MONITORED FOR ANY CHANGES HOWEVER. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY. THE LOW PRESSURE AREA AND ASSOCIATED DYNAMICS WILL BE CLOSER TO ARKANSAS...MOVING THROUGH SOUTHEAST KANSAS. THIS WILL RESULT IN A GREATER RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 51
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A grass fire got out of control 2 miles southwest of Scott. A vacant mobile home and a large, abandoned barn were destroyed and another mobile home was damaged. Four fire departments managed to stop the fire before it could spread to several occupied mobile homes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, February 2009
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: 144311.