The advance of a slow-moving cold front pushed showers into Arkansas on the 3rd. The front became nearly stationary just to the southeast of the state on the 4th.
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 LZK wrote it up.
The advance of a slow-moving cold front pushed showers into Arkansas on the 3rd. The front became nearly stationary just to the southeast of the state on the 4th. Warm, moist air overran the cool air near the ground, resulting in widespread rain and a few thunderstorms from the 4th into the 5th. Rain was heavy at times. Rainfall for the 72-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 6th was greatest at the reporting station 8 miles west-southwest of Hampton (Calhoun Co.), where 6.60 inches of rain fell. Stations reporting more than 5 inches of rain included Keo (Lonoke Co.), Des Arc (Prairie Co.), 3.3 miles west of Carlisle (Lonoke Co.), Cane Creek State Park (Lincoln Co.), Pine Bluff airport, 8.7 miles northwest of England (Lonoke Co.), 2.5 miles south-southeast of Austin (Lonoke Co.), Georgetown (White Co.), 3.7 miles south of Hampton (Calhoun Co.), 6.6 miles north-northwest of Fordyce (Dallas Co.), 2 miles northwest of Augusta (Woodruff Co.), Clarendon (Monroe Co.), Camden (Ouachita Co.), 4 miles southwest of Cabot (Lonoke Co.), 4.1 miles southeast of Searcy (White Co.), 2.1 miles southwest of Landmark (Pulaski Co.), 1.8 miles north-northwest of Sherwood (Pulaski Co.), Moro Bay State Park (Bradley Co.), 1.2 miles east of North Little Rock, and Little Rock. Stations reporting more than 4 inches of rain included Newport (Jackson Co.), 2.4 miles east-southeast of Mayflower (Faulkner Co.), North Little Rock, Newport airport (Jackson Co.), Sheridan (Grant Co.), 2.2 miles north of Little Rock, Searcy (White Co.), Crystal Valley (Pulaski Co.), Leola (Grant Co.), 2 miles southeast of Little Rock, Benton (Saline Co.), Sparkman (Dallas Co.), Monticello (Drew Co.), Blakely Mountain Dam (Garland Co.), 1 mile southeast of Conway (Faulkner Co.), and Monticello airport (Drew Co.).
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 4, 2:50 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 250 PM CST SUN DEC 4 2011 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT COLD FRONT HAS PUSHED JUST SE OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH WIDESPREAD SHRA ONGOING ALONG AND WELL BEHIND THIS FRONT ACROSS MOST OF AR. TEMPS HAVE REMAINED STEADY OR HAVE FALLEN ACROSS THE CWA AS ONGOING PRECIP AND CLOUD COVER ARE AIDING THE CAA BEHIND THE FRONT IN KEEPING TEMPS DOWN. AS THE FRONT SLOWS...ADDITIONAL ROUNDS OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONT ACROSS AR AS MOISTURE SURGES NORTH INTO THE STATE. THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAINFALL YET TO OCCUR WILL LIKELY REMAIN ALONG A LINE FROM SOUTH CENTRAL AR INTO FAR NE AR. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS A GOOD PORTION OF THE CWA...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 4...POSSIBLY 5 INCHES NOT OUT OF QUESTION...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SERN COUNTIES. AS RESULT...WILL CONTINUE WITH THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE CURRENT LOCATION AND TIME-FRAME. HAVE CONTINUED TO MENTION RAIN CHANGING TO SNOW ACROSS THE FAR NWRN COUNTIES FOR MON MORNING AS THE COLDER AIR FILTERS INTO THE STATE. ONLY MINOR ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED AT THIS TIME...IF ANY AT ALL. MODELS HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH THE THERMAL PROFILE AND MOISTURE ACROSS THIS REGION OF THE STATE...BUT SEEM TO HAVE BECOME MORE CONSISTENT AS OF LATE...WITH ONLY SOME LIGHT SNOW EXPECTED. HOWEVER...IT WILL ONLY TAKE SOME MINOR CHANGES IN THE THERMAL PROFILE TO INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR SNOW FALL ACROSS THIS REGION OF THE STATE. AS DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE STATE FOR MON...MOISTURE LEVELS WILL DECREASE AND PRECIP WILL SHIFT EAST OF THE STATE BY MON NIGHT. WENT AHEAD AND MENTIONED SOME FLURRIES AS THIS SYSTEM SHIFTS EAST...MAINLY DUE TO THERMAL PROFILES BEING COLD ENOUGH...BUT MOISTURE LEVELS BEING LIMITED DURING THAT TIME. FORECAST DOES CONTINUE TO BE SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN TUE AND WED AS MODELS DIFFER REGARDING MOISTURE LEVELS DURING THE MID WEEK TIME FRAME. DURING THIS PERIOD...AN UPPER WAVE WILL EXIT THE SRN ROCKIES TO THE EAST OVER AR...WITH POTENTIAL FOR SOME PRECIP AS THIS WAVE TRAVERSES THE STATE. THE MAJORITY OF THE NEAR AND MID RANGE MODELS SOLUTIONS HAVE VERY LIMITED MOISTURE TO GENERATE ANY PRECIP. HOWEVER...THE GFS CONTINUES TO ADVERTISE ENOUGH MOISTURE TO GENERATE PRECIP...IN THE FORM OF SNOW...OR A LIGHT WINTRY MIX. HAVE KEPT THE FORECAST DRY DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AT THIS TIME...BUT KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS COULD CHANGE IF THE HIGHER MOISTURE LEVELS OF THE GFS BECOME MORE POSSIBLE. && .LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ONCE AGAIN WL STICK CLOSER TO THE MORE CONSISTENT ECMWF SOLUTION THRU THE PD. UPR TROF WL BE WELL E OF THE MID SOUTH ON THU. THE GFS IS SLOWER WITH THIS FEATURE...DEPICTING IT JUST CROSSING THE FA ON THU. KEPT THE FCST DRY THRU THE PD AS HIGH PRES WL SE IN CONTROL ACRS THE REGION. A LONG WV TROF PASSING THRU THE ERN PART OF THE NATION WL BRING A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLDER AIR TO AR FRI NGT AND SAT. SOME MODERATION IN TEMPS IS EXPECTED BY SUN AS THE ASSOCD SFC HIGH STARTS TO SHIFT EWD...WITH S/SELY WINDS RETURNING. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 39 42 33 42 / 100 90 20 10 CAMDEN AR 45 47 37 44 / 100 100 20 10 HARRISON AR 34 38 27 37 / 100 70 10 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 41 44 34 43 / 100 100 20 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 42 44 35 43 / 100 100 20 10 MONTICELLO AR 47 50 37 43 / 100 100 30 20 MOUNT IDA AR 40 43 33 42 / 100 90 20 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 36 39 29 39 / 100 70 10 10 NEWPORT AR 40 43 34 42 / 100 100 20 10 PINE BLUFF AR 44 47 36 42 / 100 100 30 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 40 43 32 42 / 100 80 20 10 SEARCY AR 40 43 34 42 / 100 100 20 10 STUTTGART AR 43 46 36 42 / 100 100 20 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON FOR ARKANSAS-BRADLEY- CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND-CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW- FAULKNER-FULTON-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING-INDEPENDENCE-IZARD- JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE-MONROE-MONTGOMERY- OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE-POLK-POPE-PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-SHARP- STONE-VAN BUREN-WHITE-WOODRUFF-YELL. && SHORT TERM...62 / LONG TERM...44
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CST SUN DEC 4 2011 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-051100- 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 SUN DEC 4 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A SLOW MOVING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL ARKANSAS THIS MORNING AND STALL IN SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS. HEAVY PRECIPITATION WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TODAY...MAINLY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF THE STATE. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. 2 TO 6 INCHES OF RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF ARKANSAS THROUGH MONDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE POTENTIAL FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE FRONT WILL REMAIN STALLED ACROSS SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS MONDAY MORNING BEFORE MOVING EAST MONDAY AFTERNOON. CONDITIONS ARE QUITE SATURATED ACROSS MOST AREAS...AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CONTRIBUTE TO FLASH FLOODING. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA LATE FRIDAY. HOWEVER...NO PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED SUNDAY AND MONDAY. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 51
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A number of roads were flooded around Searcy, Kensett, Griffithville, and McRae. Some of the roads had to be closed.
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, December 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: 350634.