Drought conditions improved somewhat at the beginning of March over northern Arkansas and parts of central Arkansas, with severe drought diminishing to moderate drought. Meanwhile, severe drought continued over most of the southern half of the state, except for extreme drought in parts of southwestern Arkansas.
Every event with a place to put it; 30 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.
Drought conditions improved somewhat at the beginning of March over northern Arkansas and parts of central Arkansas, with severe drought diminishing to moderate drought. Meanwhile, severe drought continued over most of the southern half of the state, except for extreme drought in parts of southwestern Arkansas. Late in the month, the drought worsened in southeast Arkansas, with extreme drought developing.
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 Feb 28, 11:40 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE FOR AVIATION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1140 PM CST MON FEB 28 2011 .AVIATION... VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS. LIGHT NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS OVERNIGHT. WINDS ON TUESDAY BECOMING EAST TO SOUTHEAST 3 TO 8 KNOTS. (59) && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 236 PM CST MON FEB 28 2011/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS OVER THE ROCKIES WITH AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE APPALACHIANS. THE RIDGE WILL BUILD EASTWARD TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY BUT THE FLOW BECOMES ZONAL BY THURSDAY. THE SHORT TERM FORECAST WILL REMAIN DRY THROUGH THE PERIOD AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE THE AREA. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER ARKANSAS TONIGHT. THIS WILL BRING A DECREASE IN WIND SPEEDS OVERNIGHT. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN THE SHORT TERM. VERY DRY AIR WILL RESIDE OVER THE STATE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. HIGH PRESSURE MOVES TO THE EAST COAST THURSDAY MORNING AND THIS WILL ALLOW SOUTH WINDS TO RETURN MOISTURE TO ARKANSAS. CLOUD COVER SHOULD INCREASE THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE PERIOD...AND A WARMING TREND IS EXPECTED TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT WARMING TREND WILL BREAK TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK AS A TROUGH DIGS OVER THE CENTRAL CONUS AND DROPS A CUTOFF LOW AND COOLER AIR BACK INTO THE MID SOUTH. LONG RANGE MODELS ARE IN DECENT AGREEMENT WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE FA ON FRIDAY. CHANCES INCREASE OVERNIGHT...WITH STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE. ONE OTHER THING TO NOTE IS THAT THE 12Z ECMWF CAME BACK WITH A MUCH SLOWER SOLUTION...KEEPING HEAVY RAIN TO THE WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. THE GFS...NOW FASTER THAN THE ECMWF...SHOWS THE COLD FRONT AND ASSOCIATED PRECIP CLEARING THE STATE ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. WENT AHEAD AND FOLLOWED THE MORE CONSISTENT GFS...BUT THIS WILL BE THE SYSTEM TO WATCH IN THE COMING DAYS. QPF COULD BE QUITE HIGH WITH FLOODING POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE STATE AND ESPECIALLY IF THE ECMWF PANS OUT. TEMPS WILL BE BACK DOWN TO SEASONABLE NORMALS BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 610 PM CST MON FEB 28 2011 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011100- 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- 610 PM CST MON FEB 28 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY DRY AND COOLER WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY...WITH A WARMING TREND EXPECTED FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. THE NEXT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ARRIVE LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AS A NEW STORM SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT AFFECTS THE STATE. THE CHANCES OF ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER APPEAR LOW AT THIS POINT...BUT FORECASTS SHOULD BE MONITORED IN THE COMING DAYS AS THIS SYSTEM DEVELOPS. .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. 59/51/44
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
35 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought diminished to moderate drought at the beginning of March.
Severe drought diminished to moderate drought at the beginning of March.
Severe drought diminished to moderate drought at the beginning of March.
Severe drought in southeastern Izard County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving the entire county in moderate drought.
Severe drought over the southeastern half of Stone County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving the entire county in moderate drought.
Severe drought over the southeastern half of Van Buren County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving the entire county in moderate drought.
Severe drought in Conway County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving only the southwest part of the county in severe drought through the end of the month.
Severe drought in northern and northwestern parts of White County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving the county in moderate drought through the end of the month.
Severe drought in the northern part of Jackson County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving the county in moderate drought through the end of the month.
Severe drought in Faulkner County diminished at the beginning of March, leaving only the southwestern corner of the county in severe drought through the end of the month.
Severe drought in southeastern Pope County diminished slightly early in the month, leaving only the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge area in severe drought.
Severe drought covered southern and eastern portions of Yell County at the beginning of March. Early in the month, the area of severe drought expanded to cover all but the northern tip of the county.
Severe drought covered all of Perry County, except the northeastern tip, throughout March.
Severe drought covered the southern part of Monroe County throughout March.
Severe drought covered the extreme southern part of Prairie County throughout March.
Severe drought covered the extreme southeastern part of Lonoke County throughout March.
Severe drought covered the western part of Pulaski County throughout March.
Severe drought covered Saline County throughout March.
Severe drought covered Garland County throughout March.
At the beginning of March, severe drought covered all but northwestern Montgomery County. Early in the month, the severe drought spread and encompassed the entire county.
At the beginning of March, severe drought covered southern Polk County. Early in the month, conditions worsened with severe drought encompassing the entire county.
Extreme drought covered extreme southern Pike County throughout March. Severe drought persisted over the remainder of the county throughout the month.
Extreme drought covered extreme southwestern Clark County throughout March. Severe drought persisted over the remainder of the county throughout the month.
Severe drought covered all of Hot Spring County throughout March.
Severe drought covered all of Grant County throughout March.
Severe drought covered all of Jefferson County throughout March.
Severe drought covered all of Arkansas County throughout March.
Severe drought covered all of Dallas County throughout March.
Severe drought covered all of Cleveland County at the beginning of March. Late in the month, conditions worsened, with extreme drought developing over the southeastern half of the county.
Severe drought covered all of Lincoln County at the beginning of March. Late in the month, conditions worsened, with extreme drought developing over all but the northern part of the county.
Severe drought covered all of Desha County at the beginning of March. Late in the month, conditions worsened, with extreme drought developing over the southwestern half of the county.
Severe drought covered all of Drew County at the beginning of March. Late in the month, conditions worsened, with extreme drought developing over the entire county.
Early in March, extreme drought covered southwestern Bradley County and severe drought covered the remainder of the county. Late in the month, conditions worsened with extreme drought covering the entire county.
Early in March, extreme drought covered southern Calhoun County and severe drought covered the remainder of the county. Late in the month, conditions worsened with extreme drought covering all but the northwestern part of the county.
Extreme drought covered southern and western parts of Ouachita County and severe drought covered the remainder of the county throughout March.
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, March 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: 283295, 283296, 283297, 283299, 283300, 283302, 283303, 283304, 283305, 283309, 283537, 283538, 283539, 283540, 283541, 283542, 283544, 283546, 283549, 283551, 283555, 283560, 283561, 283563, 283566, 283567, 283569, 283570, 283572, 283574, 283576, 283578, 283588, 283590, 283591.