Severe drought conditions developed over parts of northern Arkansas soon after the middle of January.
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.
Severe drought conditions developed over parts of northern Arkansas soon after the middle of January.
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 Jan 18, 5:52 AM CST, 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 552 AM CST TUE JAN 18 2011 .AVIATION...12Z TAF CYCLE PRE FNTL TROF CURRENTLY WORKING THRU CNTRL AR...WITH IFR/LIFR CONDS NOTED AHEAD OF IT. CONDS IMPROVE SOMEWHAT TO THE WEST WHERE SFC WINDS HAVE INCRSD A BIT...MAINLY HOVERING BETWEEN IFR AND MVFR LVLS. MAIN CDFNT NOW ENTERING NWRN AR WL MOVE THRU THE REST OF THE FA LATER TODAY. INCRSG NWLY WINDS WL ALLOW VSBYS TO IMPROVE TO VFR LVLS...BUT MVFR CIGS WL LINGER. CYCLONIC FLOW WL KEEP LOW CLOUDS IN PLACE ACRS THE REGION THRU THE OVERNIGHT HRS AS WELL. /44/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 458 AM CST TUE JAN 18 2011/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AREAS OF LIGHT RAIN ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE...AHEAD OF WEAK TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE STATE. COLD FRONT ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE STATE TODAY...WITH RAIN ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST. DUE TO THE MOISTURE ACROSS THE STATE...DENSE FOG HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST HALF. HAVE ISSUED A DENSE FOG ADVISORY THROUGH MID MORNING...AS IT WILL AFFECT THE MORNING COMMUTE. HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO THE STATE...BRINGING DRIER AND COOLER CONDITIONS. HIGHS TODAY WILL FALL ACROSS THE NORTH DUE TO THE FRONT. OVERNIGHT READINGS WILL BE IN THE 20S TO LOWER 30S...OR 10 TO 15 DEGREES COOLER THAN THIS MORNING. THE COLDER AIR WILL SET UP FOR A WINTRY MIX AS ANOTHER FRONT MOVES IN WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. THIS FRONT WILL BE PROGRESSIVE...AND WILL NOT ALLOW MUCH MOISTURE RETURN. HAVE GONE WITH SMALL POPS ACROSS THE NORTH FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT. NORTHEAST WINDS WILL KEEP COOLER TEMPERATURES NEAR THE SURFACE...AND WITH A WARM LAYER ALOFT...FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET WILL MIX IN WITH RAINFALL. DUE TO THE QUICK NATURE OF THE FRONT...THERE WILL BE A NARROW BAND OF FREEZING RAIN/SLEET BEFORE A CHANGEOVER TO SNOW. WHILE THERE WILL BE SOME ICING...IT WILL NOT BE A PROLONGED EVENT. SNOW TOTALS WILL BE HIGHEST ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN ARKANSAS...WITH ONE TO THREE INCHES POSSIBLE. ACROSS CENTRAL ARKANSAS...UP TO AN INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE. WITH MANY FACTORS INVOLVED IN THIS SYSTEM...WILL CONTINUE TO HIGHLIGHT IN THE HWO. COLDER AIR WILL FOLLOW THE FRONT FOR FRIDAY...AND WENT BELOW GUIDANCE DUE TO EXPECTED SNOWFALL. LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY WEAK CLIPPER SYS WL PASS QUICKLY N OF THE REGION ON SAT...WITH JUST SOME CLOUDS EXPECTED WITH IT. SLY FLOW WL RETURN TO THE REGION BY SUN...WITH HIGH TEMPS GENERALLY IN THE 40S. ANOTHER STORM SYS WL APCH THE AREA FM THE W SUN...BRINGING SMALL PRECIP CHCS MAINLY SUN NGT AND EARLY MON. TEMPS PROFILES CONT TO INDC A RAIN/SNOW MIX FOR NRN AND WRN AR SUN NGT INTO MON...WITH CONDS RMNG WARM ENOUGH FOR JUST RAIN. DRIER AND COLDER AIR WL RETURN FOR THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... DENSE FOG ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM CST THIS MORNING FOR ARKANSAS- BRADLEY-CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEVELAND-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER- GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-LINCOLN-LONOKE-MONROE- OUACHITA-PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-WHITE-WOODRUFF. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CST TUE JAN 18 2011 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-191100- 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 TUE JAN 18 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AREAS OF FOG WILL PERSIST ACROSS THE AREA INTO THE MID AND LATE MORNING HOURS. VISIBILITIES WILL BE REDUCED TO LESS THAN A MILE IN SOME LOCATIONS...ESPECIALLY OVER PARTS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARKANSAS. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 9 AM FOR AREAS GENERALLY EAST OF THE HIGHWAY 67/167 AND INTERSTATE 30 CORRIDOR. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE LATER THIS MORNING AS A COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO WORK EASTWARD THROUGH THE STATE. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BEGIN TO USHER DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT WILL STALL ALONG THE GULF COAST AS A STORM SYSTEM ARRIVES FROM THE SOUTHERN PLAINS LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. THE SYSTEM WILL SPREAD MOISTURE INTO THE STATE...WITH A WINTRY MIX OF PRECIPITATION EXPECTED. BASED ON CURRENT DATA...PRECIPITATION SHOULD QUICKLY TRANSITION OVER TO LIGHT SNOW TOWARD THE MISSOURI BORDER THURSDAY MORNING. RAIN WILL GRADUALLY CHANGE TO LIGHT SNOW IN MUCH OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS THE DAY PROGRESSES...WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING THURSDAY EVENING. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW COULD ACCUMULATE ACROSS NORTHERN PARTS OF THE STATE BEFORE TAPERING OFF THURSDAY EVENING. LESSER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED OVER CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS THE CHANGEOVER TO SNOW IS NOT EXPECTED UNTIL LATER IN THE DAY ON THURSDAY...WITH UP TO AN INCH POSSIBLE. ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE...NOT MUCH PRECIPITATION IS IN THE FORECAST GIVEN LIMITED MOISTURE. ALSO...TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN WARM ENOUGH TO KEEP ANY PRECIPITATION MAINLY IN THE FORM OF RAIN...WITH SOME LIGHT SNOW MIXING IN BEFORE ENDING. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE FORECAST COULD CHANGE AS LATER DATA IS RECEIVED. STAY TUNED FOR LATER UPDATES TO THE FORECAST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 44
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought developed over southeastern Izard County soon after the middle of January.
Severe drought developed over southeastern Stone County soon after the middle of January.
Severe drought developed over the southeastern half of Van Buren County soon after the middle of January.
Severe drought developed over the southeastern corner of Pope County soon after the middle of January.
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, January 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: 276935, 276936, 276937, 276938.