A lack of rainfall, combined with periodic low humidities and breezy conditions, created conditions favorable for wildfires in the middle of December.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
A lack of rainfall, combined with periodic low humidities and breezy conditions, created conditions favorable for wildfires in the middle of December.
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 Dec 13, 11:43 AM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1143 AM CST MON DEC 13 2010 .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS ALL SITES...WITH THE ONLY CLOUDS IN SITE BEING A BKN-OVC100 DECK OF MID CLOUDS. THIS DECK IS ONLY 150-200 MILES WIDE AND IS MOVING SE. EXPECT IT WILL CLEAR ALL TAF SITES BY 22Z- 01Z...SOONEST IN THE WEST. SKC CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THEREAFTER. REGARDING WINDS...NLY WINDS WILL GO LIGHT AROUND 00Z THIS EVENING...THEN GRADUALLY VEER TO ROUGHLY THE EAST AT AROUND 5 KT BY SUNRISE TUE MORNING. && PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 429 AM CST MON DEC 13 2010/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT COLD AND DRY AIR IS SETTLING OVER THE STATE...WITH TEMPERATURES APPROACHING THE SINGLE DIGITS ACROSS THE NORTH. THIS COMBINED WITH NORTHWEST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH WILL KEEP WIND CHILLS AROUND ZERO...WITH THE WIND CHILL ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM. WINDS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE LATER THIS MORNING...AS HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES OVER THE REGION. HIGHS TODAY WILL STRUGGLE TO CLIMB ABOVE FREEZING IN THE NORTHEAST...EVEN UNDER SUNNY SKIES. COLD TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT...AS THE ARCTIC HIGH REMAINS OVER THE AREA. SOME MID CLOUDS WILL MOVE INTO THE STATE IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW OVERNIGHT...AND KEEP LOWS A COUPLE OF DEGREES WARMER. SOUTHEAST WINDS WILL PICK UP TUESDAY...AS THE HIGH MOVES EAST AND A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DEVELOPS ACROSS THE FRONT RANGE. HIGHS WILL WARM A COUPLE OF DEGREES...BUT WILL STILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL. THE LOW WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA TUESDAY NIGHT... WITH A WARM FRONT DEVELOPING AND MOVING NORTH INTO THE NATURAL STATE. THIS COULD BE AN INTERESTING SETUP...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR FREEZING PRECIPITATION TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY. PRECIPITATION COULD DEVELOP NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT...AND WITH WARM AIR ALOFT AND TEMPERATURES BELOW FREEZING ACROSS THE NORTH...LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE/FREEZING RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE. NORTHEAST WINDS AT THE SURFACE WILL NOT HELP IN THIS SITUATION...KEEPING TEMPERATURES FROM RISING ABOVE FREEZING. ALSO COULD HAVE SLEET DEVELOP DUE TO THE LOWER DEWPOINTS ACROSS THE NORTH. HOWEVER...MOISTURE RETURN WILL BE SLOW...AND ANY PRECIPITATION THAT FALLS WILL BE LIGHT. NOT EXPECTING A MAJOR SYSTEM...BUT COULD BRING SOME TRAVEL ISSUES. FOR NOW...WILL HIGHLIGHT IN THE HWO...AND CONTINUE TO MONITOR. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM DURING THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY...WITH ALL PRECIPITATION CHANGING OVER TO RAIN. SOME COOLER AIR WILL BE PULLED INTO NORTHERN ARKANSAS WEDNESDAY EVENING...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR RAIN/FREEZING RAIN MIX ACROSS THE FAR NORTHEAST. ENTIRE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST AWAY FROM THE AREA THURSDAY...WITH DRY CONDITIONS RETURNING TO BEGIN THE EXTENDED. LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE OVERALL EXTENDED FORECAST WILL BE DRY WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. FRIDAY HAS THE SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS FROM THE NORTH...WHILE A NEARLY ZONAL UPPER FLOW. THIS WILL BRING DRY AND COOL WEATHER CONDITIONS. ON SATURDAY SOME SHORTWAVE ENERGY IS SEEN IN ECMWF AND GFS MODELS... WITH BOTH HAVING THE MAIN LOBE JUST SOUTH OF AR. HAVE KEPT FORECAST DRY DUE TO QUITE DRY ATMOSPHERE IN PLACE...BUT BOTH MODELS DO SHOW SOME VERY LOW QPF OVER SOUTHERN AR. GFS DOES DEEPEN THE UPPER TROUGH MORE THAN THE ECWMF...SO THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY IN DETAILS. AT THIS TIME WILL KEEP FORECAST DRY WITH INCREASED CLOUDS. ON SUNDAY THE SURFACE HIGH WEAKENS A BIT AND MOVES MORE EAST OF AR...BUT THE SURFACE WIND FLOW BECOMES MORE E TO SE. LITTLE TO NO SHORTWAVE ENERGY IS SEEN IN THE MODELS...SO A DRY DAY IS EXPECTED. TEMPS SHOULD SLOWLY REBOUND BACK CLOSER TO NORMAL VALUES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 28 15 32 26 / 0 0 0 10 CAMDEN AR 39 20 49 38 / 0 0 0 10 HARRISON AR 29 15 36 27 / 0 0 0 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 37 19 44 35 / 0 0 0 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 36 18 40 31 / 0 0 0 10 MONTICELLO AR 39 20 45 35 / 0 0 0 10 MOUNT IDA AR 34 19 45 35 / 0 0 0 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 28 15 32 26 / 0 0 0 10 NEWPORT AR 29 16 33 27 / 0 0 0 10 PINE BLUFF AR 37 20 43 34 / 0 0 0 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 30 16 38 30 / 0 0 0 10 SEARCY AR 32 16 35 28 / 0 0 0 10 STUTTGART AR 34 18 39 31 / 0 0 0 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...64
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CST MON DEC 13 2010 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-141100- 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 MON DEC 13 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WIND CHILL ADVISORY WILL BE IN EFFECT THIS MORNING MAINLY OVER PARTS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN ARKANSAS...WITH WIND CHILL READINGS AROUND ZERO DEGREES IN SPOTS. THIS IS DUE TO THE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH NORTHWEST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 MPH. BY MID MORNING WIND CHILL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RISE...BUT STILL BE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS TO THE TEENS TODAY. RESIDENTS SHOULD TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS TO MINIMIZE THE AFFECTS OF THE COLD CONDITIONS. OTHERWISE TONIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE TEENS TO LOWER 20S WITH WIND CHILL READINGS MAINLY IN THE TEENS AND SOME SINGLE DIGITS. WINDS WILL BE MUCH LIGHTER OR CALM TONIGHT. ALSO AN ELEVATED WILD FIRE DANGER WILL EXIST TODAY ACROSS ARKANSAS DUE TO LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND LOW FUEL MOISTURE LEVELS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN WILL BE TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AS A WEATHER SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. OVERALL A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN IS EXPECTED...BUT THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF WINTRY WEATHER EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND AGAIN LATE THURSDAY NIGHT IN NORTHERN PARTS OF ARKANSAS WHERE TEMPERATURES WILL BE AROUND FREEZING. AT THIS TIME UNCERTAINTY IN THE FORECAST EXISTS WITH THE EXTENT AND AMOUNT OF ANY WINTRY PRECIPITATION. DRY CONDITIONS THEN SETTLE IN FOR THE STATE FOR FRIDAY AND INTO THE WEEKEND. .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. 59
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire 1 mile north of Boswell destroyed 215 acres of forest.
A wildfire 3 miles southwest of Gurdon destroyed 107 acres in the forest.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, December 2010
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: 264980, 264981.