A mesoscale convective complex developed over Southwest Missouri during the late afternoon into the early evening hours of July 11th, 2009. By the late evening hours of the 11th, the complex began moving into Northeast Arkansas.
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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.
A mesoscale convective complex developed over Southwest Missouri during the late afternoon into the early evening hours of July 11th, 2009. By the late evening hours of the 11th, the complex began moving into Northeast Arkansas. Showers and thunderstorms affected Northeast Arkansas into the early morning hours of July 12th, 2009 before dying out. Some storms became severe and produced damaging winds and 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 Jul 11, 7:17 PM CST, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 817 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009 .DISCUSSION...00Z SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES A QUASI-STATIONARY BOUNDARY STRETCHING ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI WHILE UPPER AIR PROFILERS/WATER VAPOR SATELLITE TRENDS SHOW ADDITIONAL CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY HAS FORMED ACROSS THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI. TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE MID SOUTH AS OF 7 PM CDT RANGE FROM THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S WHERE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY/CLOUD COVER HAS OCCURRED EARLIER TODAY AND MID 80S TO NEAR 90 ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE IS CONVECTIVE/SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL ACROSS THE MID SOUTH DURING THE LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. SHORT TERM RUC ANALYSIS INDICATES THE ACTIVITY WILL GRADUALLY BEGIN TO PROPAGATE TOWARDS THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AND INTO THE MID SOUTH OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. FREEZING LEVELS REMAIN QUITE HIGH OVER 15 KFT AND MAIN THREAT WOULD BE DAMAGING WINDS IF A THUNDERSTORM OR TWO IS ABLE TO BECOME SEVERE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS ACROSS PORTIONS OF WEST TENNESSEE NEAR THE KENTUCKY BORDER AND ALONG THE TENNESSEE RIVER. HEAVY RAINFALL ALSO A POSSIBILITY AS PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING ARE AT OR ABOVE 2 INCHES. WILL MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO GRIDS BASED ON LATEST CONVECTIVE TRENDS. UPDATED GRIDS WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY... CJC && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 641 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009/ UPDATE... UPDATED AVIATION DISCUSSION FOR 00Z TAFS. DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 142 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009/ UPPER RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BREAK DOWN OVER THE MIDSOUTH ON SUNDAY. ANOTHER MCS IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TONIGHT ACROSS MISSOURI AND MOVE SOUTH. WITH THE RIDGE WEAKENING OVER THE AREA TOMORROW AS THE REMNANTS OF THE MCS MOVES INTO THE MIDSOUTH...EXPECT MORE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THAN WHAT IS CURRENTLY ON RADAR FROM TODAY/S MCS. HIGHS WILL LIKELY BE SIMILAR TO TODAY WITH READINGS IN THE LOWER 90S. THE REMNANTS OF THE MCS COULD MOVE INTO THE AREA LATE TONIGHT THUS WILL CONTINUE WITH POPS FOR NORTHERN AREAS TONIGHT. ON MONDAY...A FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH AND HANG UP ALONG THE MO/AR AND KY/TN BORDER AS THE UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO WEAKEN OVER THE AREA. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THIS FRONT AND MOVE SOUTH. HIGHS WILL BE COOLER WITH READINGS IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S. TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY...UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD BACK OVER THE MIDSOUTH ON TUESDAY BRINGING WARMER TEMPERATURES BACK TO THE AREA. WEDNESDAY WILL LIKELY BE THE HOTTEST DAY WITH READINGS IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S. THE HOT TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE 70S WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAT INDICES ABOVE 105 DEGREES. HEAT ADVISORIES MAY BE NEEDED TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...COLD FRONT WILL SLIDE SOUTH AS THE UPPER RIDGE WEAKENS OVER THE AREA. THE FRONT WILL BRING CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. BY FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY...COLD FRONT WILL STALL OUT POSSIBLY OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA AS SFC HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO NORTHWEST TENNESSEE. RAIN CHANCES WILL CONTINUE TO OCCUR TO THE SOUTHWEST WHILE THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF THE CWA WILL SEE COOLER AND DRIER WEATHER. KRM && .AVIATION... 00Z TAFS MAINLY EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS AT ALL TAF SITES EXCEPT KMKL WHERE MVFR VISIBILITIES SHOULD QUICKLY DEVELOP BY 03Z THEN CONTINUE THROUGH 14Z. BRIEF MVFR VISIBILITIES ARE POSSIBLE 10-13Z AT KJBR AND KTUP...SO KEPT TEMPO FOR THIS OCCURRENCE. WILL MONITOR TSRA COMPLEX DEVELOPING OVER MISSOURI. THINK THIS WILL ORGANIZE AND MOVE SOUTHEAST. ADDED VCTS AT KMKL 09-14Z TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS COMPLEX WHERE CHANCES OF IMPACT IS HIGHEST. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF TSRA/SHRA AFFECTED THE OTHER TAF SITES AFTER 09Z. IF COMPLEX DIRECTLY AFFECTS A GIVEN SITE...BRIEF IFR CONDITIONS AND GUSTY WINDS WOULD BE POSSIBLE. WILL AMEND IF NECESSARY. ADDITIONAL ISOLATED TO SCATTERED TSRA/SHRA WILL BE OVER THE AREA AFTER 14Z...PARTICULARLY NEAR KMKL AND KTUP...SO KEPT VCTS AT THESE SITES. KEPT VCTS AT KJBR...THOUGH CONFIDENCE IS LOWER AT THIS SITE. KEPT VCTS MENTION OUT OF KMEM TAF THINKING MOST TSRA/SHRA AFTER 14Z WILL BE NORTH AND EAST OF THIS SITE. GENERALLY LIGHT SOUTH WINDS WILL PREVAIL. MBS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MEM 78 93 78 93 / 20 20 10 20 MKL 72 90 73 88 / 20 40 20 40 JBR 76 92 76 91 / 30 30 20 20 TUP 74 92 74 92 / 10 20 10 30 && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1035 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009 ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115- MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-121200- 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- 1035 PM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS... THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS...MAINLY WEST OF A LINE FROM PARAGOULD TO WEST MEMPHIS ARKANSAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY ACROSS THE ENTIRE MIDSOUTH. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT. HEAT INDEX READINGS WILL CLIMB TO AROUND 105 DEGREES OR A LITTLE HIGHER ACROSS MUCH OF THE MIDSOUTH DURING THE PERIOD TUESDAY INTO THURSDAY. HEAT INDEX ADVISORIES WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF THE REGION SOME TIME DURING THIS PERIOD. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 158 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:12 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds were estimated at 60 mph at the intersection of Highway 90 and Highway 93 southeast of Dalton.
Heavy rain flooded numerous roads in Pocahontas.
Straight line winds knocked down trees and power lines in Ravenden Springs. Some of the power lines fell onto a few homes.
The Walnut Ridge AWOS measured a 56 knot gust. A nearby grain bin was blown across County Road 414 due to the straight line winds.
Straight line winds knocked down trees and power lines in Trumann.
Straight line winds knocked down trees on Highway 226 and power poles on Highway 63.
Straight line winds knocked down tree limbs and power lines in Lepanto. In addition, a portion of a fence was blown down.
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, July 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: 187437, 187452, 187450, 187451, 187453, 187454, 187461.