Dry weather continued into early January, creating conditions favorable for wildfires.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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.
Dry weather continued into early January, creating 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 Jan 4, 5:50 PM CST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 550 PM CST TUE JAN 4 2011 .AVIATION... HIGH PRESSURE IS BUILDING OVER ARKANSAS AT THIS TIME BEHIND A COLD FRONT THAT HAS PASSED THROUGH THE STATE. HOWEVER...AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA DRUING THE MORNING AND BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN AND FOG TO THE AREA. TOOK ALL AREAS DOWN TO MVFR CONDITIONS WITH THE RAIN AND FOG. OTHERWISE VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 255 PM CST TUE JAN 4 2011/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT A WEAK FNTL BNDRY WAS LOCATED ACRS CNTRL AR AT MID AFTN. A NELY WIND N OF THE BNDRY...ALONG WITH SOME DRIER AIR...WERE THE MAIN FEATURES ASSOCD WITH IT. MID CLOUDS HAVE PERSISTED MUCH OF THE DAY ACRS CNTRL AND SRN AR...BUT SOME BREAKS HAVE ALLOWED TEMPS TO CLIMB INTO THE MID AND UPR 50S. OUR NEXT WEATHER MAKER WAS AN UPR LVL SYS PASSING EWD THRU THE 4-CORNERS REGION...WHICH WL BRING A QUICK SHOT OF LGT PRECIP LATE TNGT AND WED. NOT TOO MANY DIFFERENCES NOTED WITH THE MODELS TODAY CONCERNING FCST TRENDS IN THE SHORT TERM. THE FNTL BNDRY IS EXPECTED TO WASH OUT OVR THE FA LATER TNGT AS THE AFOREMENTIONED UPR SYS TO APCHS FM THE W. CLOUDS WL INCRS OVERNIGHT...WITH SOME LGT RAIN EXPECTED TO DVLP AFT MIDNIGHT ACRS PARTS OF CNTRL AND SRN AR. THE PRECIP WL TAKE SOME TIME TO REACH THE GRND AT IT ENCOUNTERS MUCH DRIER LOW LVL AIR OVR NRN AR. CANNOT RULE OUT SOME SLEET MIXING WITH THE LGT RAIN AT THE ONSET OVR PARTS OF NRN AR EARLY WED. THE OTHER CONSIDERATION IS THAT THE UPR FEATURE WL BE ENCOUNTERING CONFLUENT FLOW ALOFT AS IT WORKS EWD...RESULTING IN SOME WEAKENING. THE UPR SYS WL QUICKLY PASS THRU THE REGION ON WED...WITH PRECIP DIMINISHING FM THE W AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. EXPECT TO SEE SOME CLEARING BEHIND THE SYS WED AFTN...WHICH WL HELP TEMPS REBOUND OVR THE WRN HALF OF THE FA. EXPECT COOLER READINGS FURTHER E AS CLOUDS WL TEND TO PERSIST LONGER. THE UPR FLOW RMNS FCST TO TRANSITION TO NWLY ACRS THE MID SECTION OF THE COUNTRY FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK AS A STRENGTHENING UPR LOW DROPS INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION. THIS WL BRING A WEAK STORM SYS SEWD INTO THE CNTRL PLAINS AND MID MS VALLEY REGION LATE THU INTO FRI. AN ASSOCD CDFNT WL DROP SWD INTO AR...ALLOWING A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLDER AIR INTO THE AREA. IT APPEARS THAT THE MAIN EFFECTS OF THIS AIRMASS WL BE FELT OVR THE NERN HALF OF THE FA. LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE EXTEND FORECAST STARTS WITH A WARM FRONT HAVING LIFTED THROUGH AR AND IS EXPECTED TO BE LOCATED NEAR NORTHERN AR TO SOUTHERN MO...AND EXTENDING TO THE NW. ALOFT THE CUT OFF LOW OVER CA HAS PUSHED EAST TO NW AND WEST TX. SATURDAY WILL START DRY WITH INCREASING CLOUDS...BUT AS SOME OF THE UPPER ENERGY NEARS AR...SOME LIGHT RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER FAR WESTERN TO SOUTHERN AR AREAS. SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...PRECIP CHANCES WILL GO UP AS THE UPPER LOW GRADUALLY MOVES INTO AR...AND THEN PIVOTS OVER THE AREA AS THE UPPER TROUGH DEEPENS INTO THE SE PLAINS. GFS AND ECMWF ARE SIMILAR WITH THEIR SOLUTIONS...WITH THE UPPER LOW OVER THE AREA...AND PRECIP CHANCES LASTING AT LEAST INTO MONDAY...GRADUALLY ENDING INTO EARLY TUESDAY. OF COURSE THE OTHER PRESSING CONCERN IS TEMPERATURES AND IF ANY PRECIP WILL BE FROZEN. AT LEAST SATURDAY NIGHT TO SUNDAY MORNING...SUNDAY NIGHT TO MONDAY MORNING...AND AGAIN MONDAY NIGHT AND INTO TUESDAY. MONDAY NIGHT TO TUESDAY...VERY COLD AIR FILTERS INTO AR AS THE UPPER TROUGH DEEPENS...AND ALL PRECIP OVER AR WOULD BE LIGHT SNOW OR FLURRIES. THE SHORTWAVE IS EXPECTED TO CLEAR THE STATE BY TUESDAY...BUT THE UPPER TROUGH HOLDS QUITE STRONG OVER THE OH TO TN VALLEY INTO WEDNESDAY...SO FLURRIES MAY BE SEEN THROUGH MID WEEK AT TIMES. THERE REMAINS UNCERTAINTY IN THIS FORECAST...AND THE LOCATION OF BELOW FREEZING AIR...AND THE STRENGTH OF THE UPPER SHORTWAVE...AND THE AMOUNT OF MOISTURE ARE KEEP FACTORS IN THE ULTIMATE FORECAST DETAILS. FUTURE MODEL RUNS AND FORECASTS MAY CHANGE THE TIMING AND SIGNIFICANT OF THIS EVENT. OTHERWISE...TEMPERATURES START AROUND NORMAL VALUES...BUT BE COLDER THEN MUCH COLDER INTO NEXT WEEK. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 30 47 28 48 / 10 30 0 0 CAMDEN AR 43 57 32 56 / 40 30 0 0 HARRISON AR 30 48 27 46 / 10 10 0 0 HOT SPRINGS AR 39 53 31 53 / 30 20 0 0 LITTLE ROCK AR 37 51 31 52 / 30 30 0 0 MONTICELLO AR 44 55 33 55 / 40 50 0 0 MOUNT IDA AR 37 54 28 53 / 20 10 0 0 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 30 48 27 46 / 10 10 0 0 NEWPORT AR 31 46 29 48 / 10 30 0 0 PINE BLUFF AR 40 53 33 54 / 30 40 0 0 RUSSELLVILLE AR 35 52 28 50 / 20 10 0 0 SEARCY AR 33 48 27 49 / 20 30 0 0 STUTTGART AR 38 51 31 50 / 30 40 0 0 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 555 PM CST TUE JAN 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- 555 PM CST TUE JAN 4 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WILL APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST DURING THE EVENING HOURS. LIGHT PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA. WITH A LAYER OF DRY AIR IN PLACE JUST OFF THE SURFACE...A LITTLE LIGHT SLEET CAN NOT BE RULED OUT ACROSS THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE PRECIPITATION SHIELD. NO ACCUMULATION OR PROBLEMS FROM THIS LIGHT SLEET ARE ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. THE UPPER SYSTEM WILL PASS QUICKLY THROUGH THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE DAY PROGRESSES. A FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH AROUND FRIDAY AND STALL OUT TO THE SOUTH OF THE STATE. BY SUNDAY...PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL RETURN TO THE FORECAST...AS SURFACE LOW PRESSURE FORMS ALONG THE BOUNDARY...AND AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM APPROACHES THE STATE FROM THE SOUTHWEST. IT APPEARS THERE COULD BE SOME WINTRY PRECIPITATION IN PORTIONS OF THE AREA. .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. 57/56
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A wildfire 4 miles east-southeast of Yellville burned 134 acres. The fire was fought by volunteer fire departments and the Arkansas Forestry Commission.
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: 267310.