Drought continued into April over most of Arkansas. Periodic episodes of low humidities and very gusty winds led to conditions favorable for wildfires.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Drought continued into April over most of Arkansas. Periodic episodes of low humidities and very gusty winds led to conditions favorable for wildfires.
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 3, 2:33 PM CST, 27 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 333 PM CDT SUN APR 3 2011 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT WINDY CONDITIONS TODAY...AS LOW PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS INTERACTING WITH HIGH PRESSURE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST. MANY OBSERVATIONS OF SUSTAINED SOUTH WINDS OF 25 TO 35 MPH THIS AFTERNOON...WITH GUSTS APPROACHING 40 MPH. THINK THAT WINDS WILL DECREASE SOMEWHAT WITH SUNSET...AND HAVE DECIDED TO REPLACE WIND ADVISORY WITH LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR OVERNIGHT AND MONDAY. WINDS WILL SWITCH TO NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT...WITH AN INCREASE IN SPEEDS IN THE AFTERNOON. COLD FRONT WILL ENTER THE AREA AROUND 3 AM...WITH THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE FRONT. WOULD EXPECT A SQUALL LINE THAT DEVELOPS OVER THE PLAINS TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND MAY MOVE INTO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. AS THE SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE STATE...IT WILL WEAKEN. HOWEVER...AS THE FRONT APPROACHES THE SOUTHEAST COUNTIES...THERE MAY BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SEVERE STORMS...ALTHOUGH MUCH OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. WHILE THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME SEVERE STORMS...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL THE MAIN CONCERNS...A WIDESPREAD OUTBREAK IS LOOKING LESS LIKELY DUE TO THE TIME OF DAY THAT THE FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH. HIGH PRESSURE WILL QUICKLY FOLLOW THE FRONT...WITH SKIES CLEARING AND TEMPERATURES FALLING. TEMPERATURES ON MONDAY WILL FALL DURING THE AFTERNOON...AND READINGS WILL FALL INTO THE 30S FOR MONDAY NIGHT. MILD TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...WITH MOISTURE BEGINNING TO INCREASE TOWARDS THE END OF THE SHORT TERM. && .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THE DOMINANT FEATURE IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD WILL BE A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES. A COLD FRONT WILL TRY TO PUSH INTO ARKANSAS FROM THE PLAINS...BUT WILL LIKELY STALL NORTH AND WEST OF THE REGION AS IT ENCOUNTERS THE HIGH. SEVERAL SYSTEMS ALOFT FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL INTERACT WITH THE FRONT...AND THIS WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE CENTRAL PLAINS INTO THE OHIO VALLEY. SOME OF THIS PRECIPITATION MAY AFFECT THE NORTHERN COUNTIES...WITH MOSTLY DRY WEATHER FARTHER SOUTH. A LARGER SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE BY LATE IN THE PERIOD...AND THIS MAY FORCE THE FRONT THROUGH THE STATE. OTHERWISE...ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE IN THE FORECAST. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY FOR 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. WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR 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. && SHORT TERM...58 / LONG TERM...46
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 215 PM CDT SUN APR 3 2011 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-041000- 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- 215 PM CDT SUN APR 3 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE FRONT WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN KANSAS AND WESTERN MISSOURI THIS EVENING...WITH STORMS BUILDING TOWARD ARKANSAS TONIGHT. THERE IS AT LEAST A CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER IN NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE STATE BY DAWN MONDAY. GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS AT 20 TO 30 MPH ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON...WITH GUSTS FROM 30 TO 40 MPH. GUSTS COULD EXCEED 40 MPH IN SOME AREAS. SPEEDS WILL DECREASE SOMEWHAT TONIGHT TO 15 TO 25 MPH. A WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN POSTED FOR MUCH OF ARKANSAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE REGION ON MONDAY. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE STATE DURING THE MORNING. SEVERE WEATHER IS MORE LIKELY FARTHER SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON AS DAYTIME HEATING DESTABILIZES THE ATMOSPHERE. THIS INCLUDES AREAS SOUTH AND EAST OF BRINKLEY...PINE BLUFF AND CAMDEN. THE MAIN CONCERN WITH SEVERE STORMS ON MONDAY WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND QUARTER SIZE HAIL OR LARGER. GIVEN STRONG WINDS TURNING WITH HEIGHT...AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR TWO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT...WITH A WIND ADVISORY REMAINING IN EFFECT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT AND MONDAY. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 59/46
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire 0.8 mile northwest of Humphrey burned 188 acres.
A wildfire 2 miles east of Boswell burned 246 acres.
A wildfire 3 miles northeast of Vandervoort burned 100 acres.
A wildfire south of Kirby burned 103 acres.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, April 2011
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: 283600, 283597, 283599, 283601.