Very hot temperatures near 106 across all of Southwest Arkansas during the afternoon hours of July 31st resulted in a very unstable airmass for the development of strong to severe thunderstorms. The airmass was moist as well with a dry atmosphere in the lowest seven thousand feet of the atmosphere.
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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 SHV wrote it up.
Very hot temperatures near 106 across all of Southwest Arkansas during the afternoon hours of July 31st resulted in a very unstable airmass for the development of strong to severe thunderstorms. The airmass was moist as well with a dry atmosphere in the lowest seven thousand feet of the atmosphere. Once storms collapsed...they produced strong downburst winds...one of which downed trees and powerlines across Sevier County in Southwest Arkansas.
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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 2:29 PM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
329 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011
.DISCUSSION...
TODAY/S ISLD CONVECTION MAY BE OUR LAST BEST CHANCE AT ANY
CONVECTION FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...AS THE UPPER RIDGE BEGINS
TO REINFORCE ITSELF OVER THE SRN PLAINS.
WITH THE RIDGE STRENGTHENING AND DRIFTING OVERHEAD...GUIDANCE
CONTINUES TO INDICATE THAT A SIGNIFICANT AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
HEAT SPELL IS UPON US. MAV/MEX NUMBERS ARE RUNNING LOW /99-102/
AS HAS BEEN THE CASE THIS SPRING/SUMMER...BUT MET NUMBERS ARE
PUSHING 110 FOR PARTS OF E TX BY MIDWEEK. IN ADDITION...HEAT
INDICES ARE PUSHING THE UPPER ENVELOPE OF HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA
IN SOME SPOTS TODAY...AND WILL LIKELY EXCEED THIS LIMIT AT MOST
LOCATIONS BY MONDAY AFTN...DESPITE AMPLE AFTN MIXING. THAT SAID...
EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR MONDAY...AND WILL
LIKELY NEED TO BE EXTENDED AS THE WEEK MOVES ON. UNFORTUNATELY...
MODELS INDICATE NO REAL RELIEF IN SIGHT. WHEN ALL IS SAID AND
DONE...WE MAY HAVE SOME NEW MAX TEMP RECORDS FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF
AUGUST. /12/
&&
.AVIATION...
VERY ISOLATED CONVECTION DEVELOPING ALONG AND NORTHWEST OF THE
I-30 CORRIDOR THIS AFTERNOON. A SLOW SOUTHWARD DRIFT WAS NOTED TO
THE CONVECTION OVER THE PAST HOUR AND THUS...WILL NEED TO WATCH
THIS CLOSELY THIS AFTERNOON IN CASE ANYTHING CAN GET CLOSE TO OUR
NORTHERN AND WESTERN MOST TERMINAL LOCATIONS. OTHERWISE...OUTSIDE
OF LATE AFTERNOON/EVENING CONVECTION...EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TO
PREVAIL. PREVAILED VARIABLE WINDS ACROSS THE EASTERN TERMINALS
THROUGH 18Z MON AND BEYOND TNGT...PREVAILED S TO SW WINDS OF 5 TO
8 KTS ACROSS THE WESTERN TERMINAL LOCATIONS. /13/
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SHV 101 80 104 80 105 / 30 20 10 10 10
MLU 98 80 102 79 103 / 30 20 20 20 10
DEQ 101 79 105 78 106 / 30 20 10 10 0
TXK 102 80 104 79 105 / 30 20 10 10 10
ELD 99 79 103 78 103 / 30 20 10 10 10
TYR 102 81 106 82 107 / 20 20 10 10 10
GGG 101 81 104 81 106 / 20 20 10 10 10
LFK 99 79 103 78 104 / 20 10 20 20 20
&&
.SHV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AR...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FROM 11 AM TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073.
HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM CDT MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073.
LA...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FROM 11 AM TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022.
HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM CDT MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022.
OK...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FROM 11 AM TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES: OKZ077.
HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM CDT MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
OKZ077.
TX...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING FROM 11 AM TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY FOR THE
FOLLOWING ZONES:
TXZ096-097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167.
HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 11 AM CDT MONDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
TXZ096-097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167.
&&
12/13HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 1122 AM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011 ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077- TXZ096-097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-011200- SEVIER-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-HEMPSTEAD-NEVADA-MILLER-LAFAYETTE- COLUMBIA-UNION AR-CADDO-BOSSIER-WEBSTER-CLAIBORNE-LINCOLN- UNION LA-DE SOTO-RED RIVER-BIENVILLE-JACKSON-OUACHITA-SABINE LA- NATCHITOCHES-WINN-GRANT-CALDWELL-LA SALLE-MCCURTAIN-BOWIE- FRANKLIN-TITUS-CAMP-MORRIS-CASS-WOOD-UPSHUR-MARION-SMITH-GREGG- HARRISON-CHEROKEE-RUSK-PANOLA-NACOGDOCHES-SHELBY-ANGELINA- SAN AUGUSTINE-SABINE TX- 1122 AM CDT SUN JUL 31 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...EAST TEXAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AS A WEAK UPPER DISTURBANCE PUSHES SOUTH ACROSS ARKANSAS. BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY ANY STRONG STORMS. MEANWHILE...A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT...AS OUR AIR TEMPERATURES RESUME TRIPLE DIGITS AREAWIDE...AND HEAT INDEX READINGS REACH ABOVE THE 105 DEGREE MARK. PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT AGAINST THE HEAT WILL BE NEEDED TODAY FOR EXTENDED TIME SPENT OUTDOORS...OR IN AN INSUFFICIENTLY COOLED BUILDING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY... OTHER THAN LATE DAY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS FOR MONDAY...LITTLE IF ANY RAIN WILL OCCUR THIS WEEK AS THE UPPER RIDGE MOVES BACK OVER THE FOUR STATE REGION. AS A RESULT...HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO HEAT UP...POSSIBLY EVEN INTO THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE FOR MOST OF THE REGION. PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT AGAINST THE HEAT WILL BE NEEDED THIS WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. 12
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:46 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees were snapped in the Lockesburg community. Power poles were snapped along Hwy. 71. Highways 329 and 371 were blocked from downed trees. Some structural damage to outbuildings were also reported.
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, July 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: 318173.