Name: Wildfire in Arkansas, August 1 to 7, 2011
Start: 2011-08-01T00:00
End: 2011-08-07T00:00
Location: Arkansas

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $6.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

Very dry, hot, and breezy conditions, along with extremely dry fuels as a result of the long-term drought the region has experienced, promoted the rapid spread of a wildfire on the 3rd. This fire was originally started on July 28th by a child playing with fireworks near Greenwood. The fire spread onto the Fort Chaffee military installation and was under control on the 29th thanks to the work of numerous fire departments and the National Guard. Although it was under control, the fire continued to flare up from time to time. The resurgence of the fire on August 3rd resulted in 120 structures being burned down.

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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 10:44 PM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 10:44 PM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1144 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011

.AVIATION...
CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KBVO/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM.

VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH WINDS
GENERALLY UNDER 10KTS. WILL NOT INCLUDE ANY MENTION OF AFTN TSRA
AT THE AR TERMINALS...BUT CHANCE IS NOT ZERO.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 915 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011/

..UPDATE...

DISCUSSION...
EVENING STORMS HAVE DISSIPATED WITH REMNANT CLOUD COVER LIKELY TO
CLEAR OVERNIGHT. CURRENT T/TD TRENDS WARRANT A FEW DEGREES COOLER
ACROSS SE OK AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS THAN LAST NIGHT. OTHERWISE
NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES NEEDED WITH THE UPDATE.

&&

.TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 7 AM THURSDAY FOR OKZ049-OKZ053-
     OKZ054-OKZ055-OKZ056-OKZ057-OKZ058-OKZ059-OKZ060-OKZ061-
     OKZ062-OKZ063-OKZ064-OKZ065-OKZ066-OKZ067-OKZ068-OKZ070-
     OKZ071-OKZ072-OKZ073-OKZ074-OKZ075-OKZ076.

     EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH FROM 7 AM THURSDAY TO 9 PM SATURDAY 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.

     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM THURSDAY FOR OKZ069.

AR...EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH FROM 7 AM THURSDAY TO 9 PM SATURDAY FOR
     ARZ001-ARZ002-ARZ010-ARZ011-ARZ019-ARZ020-ARZ029.

     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM THURSDAY FOR ARZ001-ARZ002-ARZ010-
     ARZ011.

     EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 7 AM THURSDAY FOR ARZ019-ARZ020-
     ARZ029.

&&

AVIATION...22

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 7:52 PM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
852 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-011000-
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-
852 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

DANGEROUS HEAT.
	RISK...SIGNIFICANT.
	AREA...ALL EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...ONGOING.

DISCUSSION...
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY WARM...WHICH
WILL PROVIDE LITTLE TO NO RELIEF FROM THE EXCESSIVE DAYTIME
TEMPERATURES.  THESE CONDITIONS WILL BE MOST NOTABLE WITHIN
LARGE URBAN AREAS.  DAYTIME TEMPERATURES WILL RISE TO NEAR
RECORD LEVELS FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE UPCOMING WEEK.

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
HEAT LEVELS WILL INTENSIFY FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK...WITH
RECORD TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY.  THIS WILL
FURTHER WORSEN THE HEAT STRESS CONDITIONS...AND EXCESSIVE HEAT
WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA.

WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Sebastian

When: August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 7, 12:00 AM CST
Where: Sebastian forecast zone
Property damage: $6.0 million
Reported by: Emergency Manager

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arkansas in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, August 2011

Sources

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: 345548.