Excessive rainfall in late May and early June caused a delay in planting of crops. Rivers and creeks were out of banks and killed young plants due to shallow to deep inundation.
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.
Excessive rainfall in late May and early June caused a delay in planting of crops. Rivers and creeks were out of banks and killed young plants due to shallow to deep inundation.
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 May 31, 11:06 PM CST, 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1206 AM CDT MON JUN 1 2009 .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN EXPECTED THROUGH THE NEXT 24 HRS AT ALL TERMINALS. WINDS WILL BE VARIABLE OVERNIGHT...AND WITH DRY AIR IN PLACE...NOT EXPECTING ANY SIGNIFICANT CLOUD ISSUES...SO WENT WITH SKC OVERNIGHT. GRADUALLY INCREASING MOISTURE MAY GIVE SOME AFTERNOON HIGH BASED CU...BUT WITH CONTINUED LIMITED MOISTURE...SHOULD BE FAIRLY SPARSE IN COVERAGE. WINDS WILL BE A BIT STRONGER MONDAY AFTERNOON WITH 10 TO 12 KTS FROM THE SOUTH. MOISTURE CONTINUES TO INCREASE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT. KEPT FEW/SCT CLOUD LAYER AROUND 6KFT FOR THIS REASON TUESDAY EVENING. 06Z TAFS OUT SHORTLY. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 848 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009/ UPDATE... NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES NEEDED AT THIS TIME...WITH FORECAST PACKAGE ON TRACK. INITIALIZED GRIDS AND REMOVED AFTERNOON WORDING. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 222 PM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES OVER THE AREA. LIGHT WINDS AND SUNNY SKIES HAVE BEEN THE RULE TODAY. SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW CLEAR SKIES OVER ARKANSAS. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH THE SHORT TERM WITH THE DEVELOPING WEATHER SCENARIO. A COLD FRONT IN THE NORTHERN PLAINS TONIGHT WILL MOVE SOUTH THROUGH MONDAY AND TUESDAY. AS MOISTURE INCREASES ACROSS THE AREA...RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO ENTER NORTHWEST ARKANSAS WEDNESDAY MORNING. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT. WILL KEEP RAIN CHANCES IN THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TUESDAY. COOLER TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED WEDNESDAY BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY WILL CONTINUE THE TREND OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS AND BLEND THE MEDIUM RANGE SOLUTIONS WITH A LEAN TOWARDS THE MORE CONSISTENT ECMWF. MODELS ALL AGREE IN THE SYNOPTIC SCALE WITH EASTERN PACIFIC BLOCKING PATTERN AND BROAD TROUGHING OVER THE EASTERN CONUS. UPPER LOW OFF THE CALIFORNIA COAST INITIALLY IS KICKED TO THE EAST AS THE PERIOD PROGRESSES RESULTING IN H5 RIDGE BUILDING OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AS THE PERIOD CONCLUDES. COLD FRONT WILL BE LOCATED OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE AND PUSHING AWAY EARLY THURSDAY. WILL TREND POPS DOWNWARD IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT AS BOUNDARY PULLS AWAY. FRONT WILL BE LOCATED ALONG THE GULF COAST BY FRIDAY MORNING WITH NORTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPING IN ITS WAKE FOR COOLER TEMPERATURES AREA WIDE. MAV/MEX NUMBERS LOOK REASONABLE HERE AND THROUGH OUT THE ENTIRE PERIOD AND ARE GENERALLY ACCEPTED. AS AFOREMENTIONED CALIFORNIA LOW MOVES INLAND...UPPER FLOW TRANSITIONS FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHWEST WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING IN RESPONSE. WILL KEEP REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST DRY IN SPITE OF A WEAK WAVE MOVING THROUGH THE NORTH LATE SATURDAY AND INTO SUNDAY. MODELS NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT DO DO WITH THIS FEATURE AND WILL TAKE A WAIT AND SEE APPROACH AT THIS TIME. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 65 90 66 90 / 0 0 0 10 CAMDEN AR 65 92 66 91 / 0 0 0 10 HARRISON AR 63 89 64 87 / 0 0 0 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 64 91 66 90 / 0 0 0 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 65 91 67 90 / 0 0 0 10 MONTICELLO AR 65 92 66 91 / 0 0 0 10 MOUNT IDA AR 64 91 66 90 / 0 0 0 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 63 89 65 88 / 0 0 0 10 NEWPORT AR 66 91 67 91 / 0 0 0 10 PINE BLUFF AR 65 92 67 91 / 0 0 0 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 64 90 65 88 / 0 0 0 10 SEARCY AR 65 91 67 90 / 0 0 0 10 STUTTGART AR 66 91 67 91 / 0 0 0 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...62
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 2009 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011000- 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 CDT SUN MAY 31 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...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE STATE FROM THE NORTH. A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE WITH THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS EXPECTED TO BE IN PLACE. HOWEVER...WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
High river levels along the Black River caused delays in planting and destruction of planted crops. Significant impacts occurred in May and the event was ending in early June.
Heavy rainfall in May pushed the White River out of its banks in May and the impacts to agriculture lingered into early June. Planted crops were destroyed and planting of additional acreage was delayed.
High White River levels from May lingered into early June. Overbank flooding destroyed low lying crops and delayed additional plantings.
Flooding along the White River which started in May lingered into early June. Agricultural damages from the flooding created the need to replant many acres and the high river levels delayed the plantings.
High White River levels in May persisted into early June. Agricultural acreage damaged could not be replanted until the river levels receded.
High water levels along the White River in May were receding in early June. Agricultural damages that occurred in May could not be corrected until the river fell back into its banks. Replantings were delayed.
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, June 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: 180996, 181003, 181006, 181012, 181020, 181023.