Arkansas, 2009Flooding in Arkansas, May 1 to 31, 2009
May 1 to 31, 2009 · NWS LZK · 7 events in 5 counties and zones
Much above normal rainfall occurred in May, which led to river flooding along the White and Black Rivers. Crop losses were reported by farmers in eastern Arkansas.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
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- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- $2.5 million
- Events
- 7
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.
Much above normal rainfall occurred in May, which led to river flooding along the White and Black Rivers. Crop losses were reported by farmers in eastern Arkansas.
Clarendon set a record for the wettest May ever recorded in the city.
What forecasters said that day
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 Apr 30, 11:35 PM CST, 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 11:35 PM CST, 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1235 AM CDT FRI MAY 1 2009
.AVIATION...
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA...WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS
ACROSS THE NORTHERN COUNTIES. THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX ACROSS CENTRAL
OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE EAST DURING THE NIGHT AND BRING LOWER CLOUDS
AND RAIN CHANCES TO NORTHERN ARKANSAS BY MID DAY. HAVE INCLUDED
MVFR CONDITIONS FOR STRATUS/FOG DEVELOPING OVERNIGHT...WITH
IMPROVEMENT TO VFR BY MID MORNING.
&&
.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 856 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009/
UPDATE...
SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATES MCV HAS CLEARED THE FORECAST AREA AT
THIS TIME AND SEVERE THREAT HAS DIMINISHED TO THE POINT WHERE
WATCH 217 HAS BEEN CANCELED FOR OUT CWA. CONVECTION DEVELOPED
ALONG AN AXIS OF INSTABILITY THAT WAS LOCATED OVER CENTRAL AND
EAST CENTRAL SECTIONS. SEVERAL REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL AND SOME WIND
DAMAGE WERE RECEIVED. PLEASE REFER TO THE LOCAL STORM REPORT
PRODUCT FOR DETAILS.
PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL BE LOWERED CONSIDERABLY ACROSS THE
BOARD FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT WITH ONLY SLIGHT CHANCE POPS
BEING JUSTIFIED AT THIS POINT. WILL NOT REMOVE THEM COMPLETELY AS
NEW AREA OF CONVECTION GETTING GOING IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AND
AIRMASS REMAINS MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE WITH FORECAST LIFTED
INDICES BELOW ZERO THROUGH THE NIGHT. CLOUD GRIDS AND TEMPERATURES
ALSO TWEAKED BASED ON CURRENT TRENDS.
FRIDAY STILL LOOKING LIKE A HIT AND MISS TYPE OF PRECIPITATION DAY
WITH BEST CHANCES DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS DURING THE TIME OF
MAXIMUM HEATING WITH THE WEEKEND LOOKING UNSETTLED AT BEST.
UPDATES OUT SHORTLY.
&&
.LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&
AVIATION...58
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 30, 8:19 PM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
919 PM CDT THU APR 30 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-
919 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS.
.DAY ONE...TONIGHT
THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM HAS MOVED EAST OF THE AREA. ONLY
ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
OVERNIGHT. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
ON FRIDAY...A STORM SYSTEM WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT INTO ARKANSAS FROM
THE NORTHWEST. THE FRONT AS WELL AS SOME UPPER LEVEL ENERGY...WILL
COMBINE TO DEVELOP SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. AGAIN
ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS MAY BE POSSIBLE. ALSO ANY HEAVY
RAIN WILL ADD TO THE AREAS FLOODING PROBLEMS.
THE FRONT IS THEN EXPECTED TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY ACROSS
ARKANSAS THIS WEEKEND...AND WILL BE A FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS...WITH HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE. AGAIN ISOLATED STRONG TO
SEVERE STORMS MAY BE POSSIBLE...AS WELL AS THE THREAT FOR HEAVY
RAIN. ANY RAIN WILL ADD TO THE AREAS FLOODING PROBLEMS.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE POSSIBLE FRIDAY.
&&
VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND
CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS.
59/56/51
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 30, 6:31 PM CST, 5 hours 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
731 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0714 PM HAIL 5 NW MACON 34.97N 92.23W
04/30/2009 E1.00 INCH PULASKI AR TRAINED SPOTTER
0645 PM HAIL 5 SE PERRYVILLE 34.96N 92.74W
04/30/2009 E0.75 INCH PERRY AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
51Local storm report, Apr 30, 7:05 PM CST, 4 hours 56 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
805 PM CDT THU APR 30 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0438 PM TSTM WND DMG GRUBBS 35.65N 91.07W
04/30/2009 JACKSON AR EMERGENCY MNGR
3 HOMES WERE REPORTED HAVING ROOF DAMAGE AND TREE LIMBS
AND POWERLINES WERE DOWN ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF GRUBBS.
&&
51Flood, Independence
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 27, 10:00 PM CST
- Where
- Independence County, 1.54 mi WNW of Turkey Hill to 3.08 mi S of Dota
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $1.0 million
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.880, -91.274
Heavy rainfall in May pushed the Black River stage at Black Rock to more than 8 feet above flood stage. Over bank flooding caused the newly planted soybean crop to fail and also flooded and destroyed a number of acres of a standing corn crop. As many as 24,000 acres of row crops were flooded, but not all were planted. Losses of 5,000 acres of soybeans were estimated, along with 1,000 acres of corn. High water also delayed the initial planting of the remainder of the area. Rice planting was delayed, which can impact final yields. Arkansas Highway 37 near Cord was also flooded for more than a week.
Flood, Jackson
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County, 5.27 mi N of Centerville to 3.92 mi SW of Elgin
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $500,000
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.876, -91.214
The Black River at Black Rock was more than 8 feet above flood stage. This caused flooding downstream in Jackson County with more than 20 thousand acres of row crop farmland flooded. Perhaps as many as 5,000 acres of newly planted soybeans, at a cost of more than $50 per acre, were lost. Damages could be counted at double that value due to re-plant costs.
Flood, Jackson
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Jackson County, 0.54 mi SSE of Jacksonport to 0.72 mi NNE of Olyphant
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $200,000
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.623, -91.315
While the stage of the White River did not exceed flood stage at Newport, over bank flooding caused the destruction of thousands of acres of a young soybean crop. A stage in excess of 12 feet begins to break out into row crops and 16 to 21 feet covers a large area of the flood plain. Stages at Newport varied from 14 to 23 feet during the month of May. As many as 30,000 acres could have been impacted with crop plantings delayed or young crops destroyed.
Flood, White
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- White County, 2.9 mi N of Rio Vista to 0.76 mi ENE of Bradford
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $300,000
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.322, -91.472
High stages on the White River caused crop damages. The White River stage at Augusta remained above flood stage all month. The White River stage at Georgetown remained above flood stage from May 7th to 19th. Young soybean crops were destroyed and new plantings delayed.
Flood, White
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- White County, 1.8 mi ENE of Andrews to 3.33 mi SW of Georgetown
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $150,000
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.192, -91.541
About 15,000 acres of cropland flooded in White County in the area below the Little Red River. The stage of the White River at Georgetown was above flood stage from the 7th to the 19th of May. Some newly planted soybeans were lost and replanting was delayed due to the high river stage.
Flood, Woodruff
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Woodruff County, 6.58 mi NW of Pleasant Grove to 6.6 mi NNW of Pleasant Grove
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $200,000
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.446, -91.354
More than 20,000 acres of row crops were flooded in Woodruff County during the month of May. As many as 5,000 acres were planted in soybeans.
Flood, Prairie
- When
- May 1, 12:01 AM CST to May 31, 11:59 PM CST
- Where
- Prairie County, 1.76 mi E of Enarc to 0.23 mi N of Mesa
- Cause
- Heavy Rain
- Crop damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- Public
- Coordinates
- 35.031, -91.519
Areas within the White River levees in Prairie County were flooded for most of the month of May. Several thousand acres of crop land were impacted by the high stages and crop plantings were delayed. About 2,000 acres of young soybeans were destroyed.
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Oklahoma, May 1 to 2, 20091 death · $391,000 · 1.75 in hail · 30 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, May 1 to 3, 20091 injured · $1.1 million · EF1 · 62 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Tennessee, May 1, 20093 injured · $1.3 million · EF1 · 11 events
- Drought in Texas, May 1 to 31, 2009$6.0 million · 3 events
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Arkansas, May 1 to 3, 2009$689,000 · EF0 · 26 events
- Flooding in Illinois, May 1 to 4, 2009$500,000 · 3 events
- Flood in Iowa, May 1 to 7, 2009$500,000 · 1 event
- Flood in Iowa, May 1, 2009$500,000 · 1 event
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Arkansas, May 1, 2009$200,000 · 3 in hail · 16 events
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Alabama, May 1 to 2, 20091 injured · $47,000 · 1.25 in hail · 27 events
- Flooding in Indiana, May 1 to 29, 2009$76,000 · 24 events
- Flooding in Illinois, May 1 to 3, 2009$200,000 · 2 events
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: 171943, 171951, 171954, 171957, 171961, 171963, 171966.