Excessive Heat in Arkansas, August 1 to 4, 2012

Name: Excessive Heat in Arkansas, August 1 to 4, 2012
Start: 2012-08-01T00:00
End: 2012-08-04T18:00
Location: Arkansas

August 1 to 4, 2012 · NWS TSA · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

This period of excessively hot weather began in late July and continued into early August 2012. Extremely hot temperatures and high humidity combined to produce dangerously hot weather conditions across portions of northwest and west central Arkansas. Daily heat index values climbed into the 105 to 115 degree range with little relief occurring at night as temperatures only fell into the upper 70s to lower 80s. Two young children died during this period of extremely hot weather after being left in vehicles for an extended period of time.

What forecasters said that day

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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 31, 10:53 PM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 10:53 PM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
1153 PM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012

.AVIATION...
CONCERNING TAF SITES KTUL/KRVS/KBVO/KMLC/KXNA/KFYV/KFSM.
FOR THE 6Z TAFS... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL AT ALL TAF SITES
FOR THE ENTIRE 24 HOUR FORECAST PERIOD.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 949 PM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012/

..UPDATE...

DISCUSSION...
CURRENT FORECAST ON TRACK THIS EVENING WITH NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.
LATEST 00Z NAM CONTINUES TO SUPPORT 110 DEGREE PLUS HIGH TEMPERATURES
ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA...POSSIBLY EVEN HOTTER THAN CURRENTLY
FORECAST.  STAY TUNED.

&&

.TSA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
OK...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 7 PM FRIDAY FOR OKZ054-OKZ055-
     OKZ056-OKZ057-OKZ058-OKZ059-OKZ060-OKZ061-OKZ062-OKZ063-
     OKZ064-OKZ065-OKZ066-OKZ067-OKZ068-OKZ069-OKZ070-OKZ071-
     OKZ072-OKZ073-OKZ074.

     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM FRIDAY FOR OKZ049-OKZ053-OKZ075-OKZ076.

AR...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING UNTIL 7 PM FRIDAY FOR ARZ001-ARZ010-
     ARZ019-ARZ029.

     HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM FRIDAY FOR ARZ002-ARZ011-ARZ020.

&&

AVIATION...06

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 8:25 PM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
925 PM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-011000-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
925 PM CDT TUE JUL 31 2012

...RECORD BREAKING HEATWAVE CONTINUES...

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

FIRE WEATHER DANGER.
	RISK...LIMITED.
	AREA...EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...ONGOING.

DISCUSSION...
AN LIMITED FIRE DANGER THREAT WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EVENING
HOURS AS RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES AROUND 25 PERCENT CONTINUE TO
SLOWLY INCREASE.

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION NOT EXPECTED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
WEDNESDAY...VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER AND DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.
THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL AND VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER
AND DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.
FRIDAY...VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER AND DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.
SATURDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL AND VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER AND
DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.
SUNDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL AND DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.
MONDAY...DANGEROUS HEAT POTENTIAL.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK...WITH ONLY
SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES POSSIBLE BY NEXT WEEKEND...INCLUDING A
SMALL CHANCE FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE FIRE
WEATHER THREAT WILL ALSO REMAIN ELEVATED THROUGH THE PERIOD.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING STATEMENT...
CITY AND COUNTY OFFICIALS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR MORE HEAT RELATED
INCIDENTS...AND THE THREAT FOR WILDFIRES...THIS WEEK.

WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Benton

When: August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 4, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Benton forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 36.339, -94.256 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Washington

When: August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 4, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 35.979, -94.216 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Excessive Heat, Crawford

When: August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 4, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Excessive Heat, Sebastian

When: August 1, 12:00 AM CST to August 4, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Sebastian forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

The people who died

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
Excessive Heat, Benton	2012-08-04	3	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct
Excessive Heat, Washington	2012-08-03	2	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Excessive Heat: Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, August 2012

Sources

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: 402885, 402886, 402887, 402888.