An isolated severe thunderstorm occurred in Benton County during the morning of the 13th.
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 TSA wrote it up.
An isolated severe thunderstorm occurred in Benton County during the morning of the 13th.
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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 13, 10:08 AM CST, 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1108 AM CDT WED MAY 13 2009
...UPDATE...
.DISCUSSION...
CURRENT TRENDS HAVE INDICATED THAT WIND GUSTS OVER 40 MPH SHOULD
CONTINUE TO BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE MAJORITY OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA
AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THUS...WILL EXTEND THE WIND
ADVISORY FOR THE MAJORITY OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA THROUGH 2300 UTC.
ALSO...RAISED TEMPS SLIGHTLY AND BACKED OFF ON SKY GRIDS FOR THIS
AFTERNOON IN RESPONSE TO RECENT SAT/SFC OBSERVATIONS.
FOR TONIGHT...CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO SET UP FOR POSSIBLE STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE STRONG COLD FRONT. A
FLASH FLOOD WATCH AND A FLOOD WATCH HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR THE
ENTIRE CWA TO COVER THE POTENTIAL OF HEAVY RAIN TONIGHT.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
TUL 88 60 70 63 / 30 90 50 30
FSM 88 66 80 62 / 30 80 50 10
MLC 88 67 78 65 / 20 80 40 10
BVO 87 57 70 61 / 40 90 40 40
FYV 85 62 75 62 / 40 90 60 20
BYV 85 61 72 62 / 40 90 50 20
MKO 88 64 71 64 / 30 80 60 20
MIO 86 58 70 63 / 40 90 40 40
F10 87 64 70 64 / 20 80 50 20
HHW 88 67 82 65 / 20 70 30 10
&&
.TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM WEDNESDAY FOR OKZ054-OKZ055-OKZ056-
OKZ057-OKZ058-OKZ059-OKZ060-OKZ061-OKZ062-OKZ063-OKZ064-
OKZ065-OKZ066-OKZ067-OKZ068-OKZ069-OKZ070-OKZ071-OKZ072-
OKZ073-OKZ074-OKZ075-OKZ076.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM 7 PM WEDNESDAY TO 7 AM THURSDAY FOR
OKZ049-OKZ053-OKZ054-OKZ055-OKZ056-OKZ057-OKZ058-OKZ059-
OKZ060-OKZ061-OKZ062-OKZ063-OKZ064-OKZ065-OKZ066-OKZ067-
OKZ068-OKZ069-OKZ070-OKZ071-OKZ072-OKZ073-OKZ074-OKZ075-
OKZ076.
AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM 7 PM WEDNESDAY TO 7 AM THURSDAY FOR
ARZ001-ARZ002-ARZ010-ARZ011-ARZ019-ARZ020-ARZ029.
&&
SHORT TERM...20
LONG TERM....18HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK 1131 AM CDT WED MAY 13 2009 ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-140445- ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK- CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK- LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK- OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK- PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK- WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR- 1131 AM CDT WED MAY 13 2009 ...SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED TODAY ALONG WITH AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN... THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. TORNADO. RISK...ELEVATED. AREA...NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND FAR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...AFTER 5 PM. AREA AT GREATEST RISK...LOCATIONS NEAR THE KANSAS OKLAHOMA BORDER. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. RISK...SIGNIFICANT. AREA...ALL EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET... AFTER 5 PM. AREA AT GREATEST RISK...ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40. FLASH FLOOD. RISK...ELEVATED. AREA...ALL OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...AFTER 5 PM. AREA AT GREATEST RISK...ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40. HEAVY RAIN. RISK...ELEVATED. AREA...ALL EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. ONSET...AFTER 5 PM. SIGNIFICANT WINDS. RISK...ELEVATED. AREA...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. ONSET...ONGOING. DISCUSSION... STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WITH GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON...AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE WINDS SHOULD DECREASE SLIGHTLY THIS EVENING AS THE COLD FRONT ENTERS INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA. ATTENTION TODAY FOCUSES TOWARDS THE ADVANCING COLD FRONT BY LATE AFTERNOON...AS THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SLIDES INTO SOUTHERN KANSAS AND WESTERN MISSOURI. A STRONG CAP WILL LIMIT THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FRONT INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS...WHICH WILL ALLOW STRONG INSTABILITY TO BUILD SOUTH OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE CAP WILL WEAKEN SUFFICIENTLY FOR STORMS TO FORM ALONG THE BOUNDARY BY LATE AFTERNOON...AND BUILD SOUTHWESTWARD INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA. STORMS WILL QUICKLY TURN SEVERE ONCE THEY DEVELOP WITH INITIAL STAGES FAVORING SUPERCELLS WITH TORNADIC AND VERY LARGE HAIL POTENTIAL. THE STRONGER WIND FIELDS WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE REGION WHICH IS LIKELY TO LEAD TO STORMS ORGANIZING ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY...AND PUSHING SOUTHWARD AS THEIR COMBINED OUTFLOW BOUNDARY STRENGTHENS. THIS SCENARIO WILL LIMIT THE TORNADIC POTENTIAL WITH TIME...YET THE FETCH OF STRONG INSTABILITY WILL CONTINUE THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT HAIL AND OUTFLOW WINDS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE STORM INITIATION WILL BE SLOW MOVING...AND PROVIDE A ZONE FOR REPEATED STORM DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE AREA. THIS WILL LEAD TO EXCESSIVE RAINFALL ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT...WITH A FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED BY MID TO LATE AFTERNOON... AND WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES AND WARNINGS SHOULD BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. FRIDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. SATURDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. SUNDAY...NO HAZARDS. MONDAY...NO HAZARDS. TUESDAY...NO HAZARDS. EXTENDED DISCUSSION... THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE INTO THE WEEKEND...WITH YET ANOTHER ROUND OF HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. SHOULD THIS HEAVY RAIN DEVELOP...THEN BOTH FLASH FLOODING AND RIVER FLOODING WILL BE A CONCERN OVER THE WEEKEND. THE WEATHER PATTERN LOOKS TO CHANGE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH POTENTIAL FOR A DRY PERIOD OVER THE AREA. WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL TABULAR AND GRAPHICAL INFORMATION.
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:42 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds estimated at 80 miles an hour damaged trees and roofs of 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, May 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: 173516.