A series of stalled frontal boundaries set up over parts of Arkansas and produced very heavy rainfall, leading to river flooding.
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 LZK wrote it up.
A series of stalled frontal boundaries set up over parts of Arkansas and produced very heavy rainfall, leading to river flooding.
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 Nov 28, 9:34 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 934 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 .SYNOPSIS... UPPER LOW OVER MISSISSIPPI AT THIS TIME EXPECTED TO ROTATE OFF TO THE NORTHEAST THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. BAND OF MAINLY LIGHT TO OCCASIONAL MODERATE SNOW DEVELOPED OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE CWA SHORTLY AFTER DARK AND REQUIRED THE ISSUANCE OF A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AND SPOTTERS INDICATE ABOUT AN INCH TO MAYBE AN INCH AND A HALF HAS FALLEN WITH MOST ACCUMULATION ON GRASSY AREAS BUT SOME AREA ROADS ARE SLICK. BAND NOW LOCATED OVER EAST CENTRAL SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA AND HEADING SOUTH TO SLIGHTLY SOUTHWEST BUT ONLY RAIN IS BEING REPORTED RIGHT NOW ALTHOUGH SOME LIGHT SLEET HAS OCCURRED IN CLEBURNE COUNTY IN THE PAST AREA. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND SEE IF THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY WILL NEED TO BE EXPANDED. LATEST UPDATE OUT TO REWORK GRIDS TO REFLECT CURRENT RADAR TREND AND TIGHTEN UP THE WORDING. ALL PRODUCTS OUT. REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 546 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011/ AVIATION... UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES OVER WESTERN ALABAMA AND THE SURFACE LOW IS OVER WEST KENTUCKY. CLOUDS CONTINUE TO ROTATE INTO EASTERN ARKANSAS. SKIES HAVE CLEARED RAPIDLY FROM THE WEST...BUT CLOUDS WILL LINGER IN THE EAST AS THEY MOVE SOUTH ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE LOW. WILL KEEP CLOUDS OVERNIGHT AT PBF AND LLQ. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 515 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011/ UPDATE... QUICK UPDATE NEEDED THIS EVENING TO REWORK THE PRECIPITATION AND TEMPERATURES GRIDS SLIGHTLY. CLOUDS HAVE CLEARED OUT ACROSS MOST OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS AT THIS TIME. WHILE SOME CLOUDS WILL ROTATE BACK TO THE EAST AS THE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER CENTRAL ALABAMA ROTATES OUT TO THE EAST...LOWS WILL LIKELY BE A TOUCH COLDER THAN CURRENTLY BEING ADVERTISED. PRECIPITATION GRIDS ALSO REWORKED A BIT TO REFLECT EXPECTED POPS. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 247 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT CLOUDS HAVE CLEARED TO A LINE FROM ROUGHLY HARRISON TO RUSSELLVILLE TO HOT SPRINGS THIS AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES HAVE RESPONDED BY WARMING INTO THE MID 40S...WHILE AREAS BENEATH CLOUD COVER IN ERN ARKANSAS REMAIN LOCKED INTO THE UPPER 30S. MEANWHILE...HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NW OF ARKANSAS CONTINUES TO PUMP DRY AIR INTO THE STATE...WHILE A COLD UPPER LOW OVER TENN ROTATES ELEVATED MOISTURE INTO THE EASTERN PART OF THE STATE. PRIMARY FORECAST CONCERN IN THE SHORT TERM REMAINS THE POSSIBILITY OF SNOW...OR OTHER VARIETY OF FROZEN/FREEZING PRECIP. THE BEST CHANCE TO SEE ANY NOTABLE PRECIPITATION...LIQUID OR FROZEN...IS GOING TO BE IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF THE STATE. THIS IS WHERE THE UPPER FORCING WILL BE BEST AND WHERE THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MOST SATURATED AND NOT LOSE AS MUCH PRECIPITATION TO EVAPORATIVE COOLING. WILL ADVERTISE LIKELY AND/OR CATEGORICAL POPS IN THE NE...STEPPING DOWN TO SLIGHT CHANCE POPS AS FAR SW AS A MONTICELLO TO LITTLE ROCK TO FLIPPIN LINE. CONCERNING PRECIP TYPE...FOR AREAS NORTH AND EAST OF THE AFOREMENTIONED LINE...IN GENERAL THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SNOW FROM THE CLOUD BEARING LAYER ALL THE WAY DOWN TO WITHIN ABOUT 1000 FT OF THE SURFACE. THE MAIN FACTOR IN WHAT PTYPE ACTUALLY MAKES IT TO THE GROUND WILL BE SFC TEMPS AND DEW POINTS. THE INFLUX OF DRY AIR SHOULD MEAN THAT MOST AREAS WITH PRECIP MENTIONED IN THE FORECAST STAND A CHANCE OF SEEING SOME SNOW MIXED IN WITH RAIN DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THE CAVEAT TO THIS IS FOR AREAS NORTH AND EAST OF ROUGHLY CLEBURNE COUNTY. AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT A WARM NOSE SHOULD ROTATE AROUND THE NW SIDE OF THE UPPER LOW OVER TENNESSEE. THIS WARM NOSE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO CHANGE THE PRECIP TYPE OVER FROM A RAIN/SNOW MIX TO PRIMARILY SLEET. AGAIN... THIS SHOULD BE LIMITED TO AREAS IN THE FAR NE CWA...ESPECIALLY VALLEY LOCATIONS EAST OF MOUNTAIN HOME. FINALLY IT IS WORTH NOTING THAT NO ACCUMULATIONS OF ANY FROZEN OR FREEZING PRECIP ARE EXPECTED. PRECIP RATES SHOULD BE LOW ENOUGH THROUGH THIS EVENING SUCH THAT...OUTSIDE OF THE NE PARTS OF THE CWA...ONLY DRIZZLE/LIGHT RAIN AND/OR SNOW FLURRIES WILL BE NOTED. LATER TONIGHT PRECIP RATES MAY BE HIGH ENOUGH IN THE NORTHEAST TO POSSIBLY SEE A DUSTING FORM IN GRASSY AREA...BUT THAT WILL LIKELY BE THE UPPER END OF THE SCALE FOR THIS EVENT. WINDS WILL PICK UP TONIGHT AND THROUGH THE DAY TOMORROW AS THE UPPER LOW BEGINS TO START IT/S JOURNEY EAST. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS WINDS WILL FALL SHORT OF LAKE WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA...BUT GUSTS IN THE 20-25 MPH RANGE LATE TONIGHT AND TOMORROW CERTAINLY SEEM FEASIBLE IN THE NORTH. THE SYSTEM WILL EJECT TO THE NE TOMORROW...ALLOWING ALL PRECIP TO END OVER THE FORECAST AREA BY MID MORNING AND CLOUDS TO CLEAR FROM THE WEST. EXPECT ONLY PARTLY CLOUDY OR MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES EXPECTED BY TOMORROW NIGHT. THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM WILL BE DRY WITH BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. TOMORROW NIGHT WILL BE THE COLDEST WITH WIDESPREAD TEMPS IN THE 20S EXPECTED...AND HIGHS WED AND THU SHOULD BE ONLY IN THE MID 50S...JUST SLIGHTLY BELOW SEASONAL VALUES. LONG TERM...FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NOT A LOT OF CHANGE MADE TO THE EXTENDED. A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE PASSING THROUGH ARKANSAS ON FRIDAY. WITH LITTLE DEEP-LAYER MOISTURE TO WORK WITH...ONLY SOME CLOUDS AND A WIND SHIFT WILL BE NOTED. THE BOUNDARY WILL STALL OUT TO THE SOUTH OF THE REGION BY SATURDAY. BY LATE IN THE WEEKEND...AN UPPER LOW EJECTING OUT OF THE DESERT SOUTHWEST WILL PUSH THE FRONT BACK TO THE NORTH A BIT. AT THE SAME TIME...ANOTHER FRONT WILL APPROACH THE REGION FROM THE NORTHWEST. BOTH SYSTEMS WILL ALLOW FOR INCREASED RAIN CHANCES OVER THE REGION LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY. THE SHALLOW COLD AIR MASS THAT WILL HAVE BE IN PLACE WHEN THIS SYSTEM ARRIVES MAY BE NEARLY COLD ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A MIX OF RAIN/SLEET IN THE ELEVATED TERRAIN UP NORTH. HOWEVER...WHILE TIMING REMAINED FAIRLY CONSISTENT BETWEEN OVERNIGHT AND MORNING MODEL RUNS...THE NEWER RUNS HAVE COME IN A BIT WARMER. AS SUCH...BUMPED UP SAT NIGHT LOWS JUST A TAD AND REMOVED MENTION OF WINTRY PRECIP FROM THE FORECAST. THAT SAID...THE PATTERN DEPICTED IN THE MODELS COULD CERTAINLY LEAD TO SOME WINTRY PRECIP SOMEWHERE IN THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA SO DO NOT BE SURPRISED IF IT GETS REINTRODUCED TO THE FORECAST. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 40 33 48 27 / 30 70 20 10 CAMDEN AR 43 32 53 30 / 0 20 0 0 HARRISON AR 37 30 46 24 / 0 30 0 0 HOT SPRINGS AR 43 31 51 29 / 0 20 0 0 LITTLE ROCK AR 43 32 51 29 / 10 50 0 0 MONTICELLO AR 43 33 51 31 / 10 40 0 0 MOUNT IDA AR 42 29 50 26 / 0 20 0 0 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 39 32 47 25 / 10 50 10 0 NEWPORT AR 40 33 47 28 / 30 80 20 10 PINE BLUFF AR 42 33 51 30 / 10 50 0 0 RUSSELLVILLE AR 44 30 50 26 / 0 30 0 0 SEARCY AR 40 33 48 27 / 20 70 10 0 STUTTGART AR 41 33 49 29 / 20 60 10 0 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 9 AM CST TUESDAY FOR FULTON- INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-SHARP. && SHORT TERM...56 / LONG TERM...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 801 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-291100- 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- 801 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE DEEPENING OVER THE REGION WILL ALLOW FOR PATCHY LIGHT RAIN MOSTLY OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF ARKANSAS THROUGH TONIGHT. COLD AIR ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM WILL BRING SNOW TO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH MID MORNING FOR PARTS OF THE NORTHEAST. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE NORTHEAST. HIGHEST ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE ON GRASSY SURFACES. ROADS WILL BECOME SLICK AND HAZARDOUS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY LIGHT SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE INTO MID MORNING TUESDAY IN THE NORTHEAST. THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE AWAY FROM THE REGION ON TUESDAY. COOL HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE IN BEHIND THE SYSTEM...AND TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. PRECIPITATION CHANCES RETURN TO THE FORECAST LATE SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY...AS ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM AFFECTS THE REGION. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS A WINTRY MIX COULD BE POSSIBLE ACROSS PARTS OF NORTHERN ARKANSAS EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 57/56
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 710 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 ARZ007-016-025-034-290400- INDEPENDENCE-JACKSON-SHARP-WOODRUFF- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...ASH FLAT...AUGUSTA...BATESVILLE... CAVE CITY...COTTON PLANT...HARDY...MCCRORY...NEWPORT... OIL TROUGH...PLEASANT PLAINS...SWIFTON...TUCKERMAN 710 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011 MIXED PRECIPITATION CONTINUES TO ROTATE INTO NORTHEAST PARTS OF ARKANSAS AROUND AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CENTERED OVER MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA. SOME SNOW FLURRIES MAY BE SEEN AND SOME MIXED PRECIPITATION COULD TRANSITION TO SNOW. SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE ON GRASSY AREAS AND MINOR ACCUMULATIONS ON ROADWAYS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THIS COULD CAUSE SOME SLICK SPOTS ON ROADWAYS AND ELEVATED SURFACES. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL MONITOR THE SITUATION AND A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MAY BE REQUIRED IF CONDITIONS DETERIORATE. 227
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
804 PM CST MON NOV 28 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0800 PM SNOW SWIFTON 35.82N 91.13W
11/28/2011 E1.0 INCH JACKSON AR NWS EMPLOYEE
OFF DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED AN ESTIMATED ONE INCH OF
SNOW IN GRASSY AREAS IN SWIFTON.
&&
227The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rainfall caused the White River near Clarendon to rise above flood stage during the late evening hours on the 28th. This river reached over 26 feet during the month of November and minor flooding continued through the end of the month.
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, November 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: 351286.