By early March, the Mississippi River began rising above it's banks. As a result, land inside the levee system was flooded.
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 MEG wrote it up.
By early March, the Mississippi River began rising above it's banks. As a result, land inside the levee system was flooded. One fatality occurred when a driver drove his vehicle into the flood waters and lost control.
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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 20, 9:38 AM CST, 1 hour 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 1038 AM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 .UPDATE... FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. TEMPERATURES ARE WARMING RAPIDLY THIS MORNING WITH READINGS ALREADY IN THE LOWER 70S. NEAR RECORD HIGHS IN THE LOW TO MID 80S ARE ON TRACK WITH VERY LITTLE CHANGES NEEDED. BORGHOFF && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 632 AM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011/ DISCUSSION... UPDATED FOR 12Z AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 420 AM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011/ DISCUSSION... A 580+ DM H5 RIDGE CENTERED OVER MISSISSIPPI WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. AS A RESULT...MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES...DRY CONDITIONS AND RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED. A FEW CLOUDS AROUND THE NORTHERN EDGE OF THE RIDGE WILL MOVE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS EASTERN ARKANSAS AND WESTERN TENNESSEE THROUGH MIDDAY. HOWEVER AS A WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTHWARD INTO THE OHIO VALLEY SKIES WILL BECOME MOSTLY CLEAR ACROSS ALL OF THE MIDSOUTH. EVEN WITH THE MORNING CLOUD COVER ACROSS THE NORTH...AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL CLIMB INTO THE LOW 80S...WITH MIDDLE 80S FARTHER SOUTH FROM TUNICA TO TUPELO. MANY LOCATIONS WILL APPROACH RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON. HERE IS A LIST OF RECORDS...NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND FORECAST HIGH TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH FOR TODAY. MEMPHIS TN NORMAL...63...RECORD 84 IN 1907. FORECAST TODAY...83 JACKSON TN...NORMAL 63...RECORD 84 IN 2004. FORECAST TODAY...82 JONESBORO AR...NORMAL 62...RECORD 85 IN 1932. FORECAST TODAY...80 TUPELO MS...NORMAL 66...RECORD 85 IN 1948. FORECAST TODAY...83 THE RIDGE AXIS WILL SHIFT A BIT FARTHER EAST TOMORROW RESULTING IN SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES...BUT STILL BETWEEN 15 AND 20 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE NEXT CHANCE OF RAIN WILL MOVE IN TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY AHEAD OFF A WEAK COLD FRONT. GUIDANCE VARIES SIGNIFICANTLY WITH THIS SYSTEM. GFS ENSEMBLE POPS RANGE FROM AROUND 20 TO AROUND 60 PERCENT ON WEDNESDAY. MEAN FLOW IS NEARLY ZONAL ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH MIDWEEK ALTHOUGH SOME GUIDANCE SUGGESTS A SHORTWAVE WILL DIVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS WESTERN TENNESSEE AS A TROUGH DIGS WELL TO OUR NORTH. SPC HIGHLIGHTS A PORTION OF WESTERN TENNESSEE AND EXTREME NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI IN THEIR DAY 4 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK CITING A 100 KT 500 MB JET AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SUBSTANTIVE MOISTURE RETURN AHEAD OF THE FRONT AS INGREDIENTS SUPPORTIVE OF CONVECTION. NOT QUITE READY TO INCLUDE ANY SEVERE/STRONG WORDING IN THE HWO...YET BUT WILL CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AND WATCH SUBSEQUENT MODEL RUNS CLOSELY. TEMPERATURES BEHIND THE FRONT WILL FALL BACK CLOSER TO CLIMO...BUT STILL AROUND 10 DEGREES WARMER THAN NORMAL. && .AVIATION... 12Z TAF CYCLE VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE ENTIRE FORECAST PERIOD. WINDS WILL BE MAINLY EAST AROUND 5 KNOTS THIS MORNING BEFORE SHIFTING TO THE SOUTH AND INCREASING TO AROUND 10 KNOTS BY THIS AFTERNOON. SOME HIGHER WIND GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE IN THE KJBR AREA. WINDS WILL DIMINISH TO AROUND 5 KNOTS THIS EVENING. ARS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MEM 83 60 80 62 / 0 0 0 0 MKL 82 57 80 56 / 0 0 0 0 JBR 80 57 77 58 / 0 0 0 0 TUP 84 56 81 56 / 0 0 0 0 && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 438 AM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115- MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-211145- ALCORN-BENTON MS-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY-COAHOMA- CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DESOTO-DECATUR-DUNKLIN-DYER- FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD-HENDERSON-HENRY- ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEE AR-LEE MS-MADISON- MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION-PANOLA-PEMISCOT- PHILLIPS-POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN-RANDOLPH-SHELBY- ST. FRANCIS-TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON-TISHOMINGO-TUNICA- UNION-WEAKLEY-YALOBUSHA- 438 AM CDT SUN MAR 20 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS... THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SEVERAL AREA RIVERS REMAIN NEAR OR ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. SEE THE FLOOD WARNINGS...STATEMENTS AND ADVISORIES FOR DETAILS. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SEE THE LATEST FLOOD WARNINGS...STATEMENTS AND ADVISORIES FOR INFORMATION ON AREA RIVERS. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. OTHERWISE...THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An elderly man drove his truck into flood waters when he lost control of the vehicle in the current causing the cab to fill with water. The passenger of the vehicle died as a result.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood, Mississippi | 2011-03-20 | 77 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
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: 291601.