A weak area of low pressure aloft, tropical moisture, and daytime heating helped to fire off scattered thunderstorms in Arkansas during the afternoon and early evening hours on the 12th, 13th, and 14th.
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 weak area of low pressure aloft, tropical moisture, and daytime heating helped to fire off scattered thunderstorms in Arkansas during the afternoon and early evening hours on the 12th, 13th, and 14th.
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 Jul 12, 5:38 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 638 PM CDT THU JUL 12 2012 .DISCUSSION... UPDATED FOR THE 00Z AVIATION DISCUSSION. && .AVIATION... FORECAST THIS PERIOD WILL BE A PERSISTENCE BASED FORECAST. CENTRAL/SOUTHERN ARKANSAS SHOULD SEE WIDESPREAD LOW-END MVFR CIGS DEVELOP ONCE AGAIN TONIGHT...WITH SOME AREAS OF IFR/LIFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE. LOWEST FLIGHT CONDITIONS WILL BE DOWN TOWARDS KLLQ. WHERE IFR CIGS SHOULD FORM AROUND 05Z MUCH LIKE LAST NIGHT. WENT WITH AN AVERAGING APPROACH FOR VSBY AT KLLQ AND LIMITED IT TO 2SM THERE AS OBS LAST NIGHT SHOWED VSBY BOUNCING AROUND BETWEEN 1/4SM AND 2 1/2SM OVERNIGHT. ELSEWHERE...PRIMARY CAUSE FOR LOW FLIGHT CATEGORIES WILL BE CIGS AND HAVE LITTLE TO NO VSBY REDUCTIONS AT KHOT...KM89...KLIT AND EVEN KPBF. UPPER LEVELS WILL NOT CHANGE MUCH OVER THE NEXT 24 HRS AND GUIDANCE SHOWS SCATTERED CONVECTION OVER FAR SE ARKANSAS SHORTLY AFTER DAYBREAK. GIVEN SPOTTY NATURE OF PRECIP OVER LAST FEW DAYS...WILL CONTINUE WITH MENTION OF VCSH FOR KPBF AND KLLQ AFTER 15Z...AND NOT MENTION ANY PRECIP FOR KHOT...KM89 AND KLIT. VFR CONDITIONS...MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES AND DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED UP NORTH. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 231 PM CDT THU JUL 12 2012/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT NO APPRECIABLE CHANGES WILL BE MADE TO THE ONGOING FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON AS UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL...ESPECIALLY OVER THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE COUNTY WARNING AREA. NAM SOLUTION OUT OF PHASE WITH THE OTHER SOLUTIONS CONCERNING ITS QPF AND AS SUCH WILL BE DISREGARDED THIS AFTERNOON. A BLEND OF THE GFS/ECMWF/WRF WILL BE USED TO DO WHATEVER TWEAKING NEEDS TO BE DONE. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY CURVING FROM SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS TO THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. WEAK LOW PRESSURE WILL TRAVERSE THE FRONT KEEPING AT LEAST A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION OVER THE SOUTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL ZONES THROUGH FRIDAY WITH A DEFINITE DIURNAL TREND EXPECTED. IN THE UPPER LEVELS...WITH THE PREVAILING WESTERLIES PUSHED INTO SOUTHERN CANADA...ANTICYCLONES CENTERED NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS AND OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST WITH DOMINATE. IN BETWEEN THESE TWO FEATURES...THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONT RESIDES AND WHILE ALL MODELS INDICATE IT WEAKENING TO MORE A SHEAR AXIS...THE FACT IS IT REMAINS GENERALLY IN IN THE SAME GENERAL AREA THROUGH THE PERIOD. THROW PLENTY OF GULF MOISTURE INTO THE EQUATION WITH PWATS OVER 1.5 TO 2 INCHES AND THE RESULT WITH WILL CONTINUING PRECIPITATION CHANCES OVER THE SOUTH AND EAST. FURTHER NORTH AND WEST OF THIS AXIS...ONLY ISOLATED PRECIPITATION CHANCES CAN BE JUSTIFIED. ONCE AGAIN...THE MAJORITY OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE DIURNALLY DRIVEN. INCREASED CLOUD COVER AND CONTINUING PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES IN CHECK THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH READINGS POSSIBLY AVERAGING SLIGHTLY BELOW SEASONAL NORMS. ECMWF/MAV/MEX GUIDANCE NUMBERS ALL IN DECENT AGREEMENT THIS AFTERNOON AND WILL BE BLENDED. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD AS A STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE RESIDES TO THE WEST. THIS FLOW WILL CONTINUE TO ALLOW SMALL DISTURBANCES TO PASS THROUGH THE STATE AND TRIGGER DIURNAL CONVECTION. RAIN CHANCES WILL REMAIN ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AT BEST...WITH BEST CHANCES OF RAINFALL COMING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD. TOWARDS THE END OF THE PERIOD...MODELS SUGGEST THAT THE STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE THAT HAS BEEN SO DOMINANT IN THE PAST WEEKS WILL BEGIN TO SLIDE TOWARDS THE EAST. THIS WILL BRING A SLIGHT WARMING TREND TO THE REGION AND BEGIN TO MINIMIZE PRECIPITATION CHANCES. ALTHOUGH A WARMING TREND WILL BE SEEN...THE COMBINATION OF ISOLATED RAIN CHANCES...CLOUD COVER AND HIGHER HUMIDITY VALUES SHOULD KEEP TEMPERATURES A BIT UNDER THE CENTURY MARK. HOWEVER...HEAT INDEX VALUES COULD BEGIN TO APPROACH 105 DEGREES BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 89 70 89 69 / 30 20 30 30 CAMDEN AR 88 71 88 70 / 40 30 40 30 HARRISON AR 91 68 92 68 / 20 20 20 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 89 71 89 71 / 30 20 30 30 LITTLE ROCK AR 91 71 88 70 / 30 20 30 30 MONTICELLO AR 84 71 86 70 / 50 40 50 40 MOUNT IDA AR 90 71 90 71 / 30 20 30 20 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 91 69 91 68 / 20 20 20 20 NEWPORT AR 86 71 88 70 / 30 30 30 30 PINE BLUFF AR 85 72 87 71 / 40 30 40 40 RUSSELLVILLE AR 94 70 90 70 / 20 20 20 20 SEARCY AR 89 71 88 70 / 30 20 30 30 STUTTGART AR 84 71 87 70 / 40 30 40 30 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...64
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT THU JUL 12 2012 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-131000- 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- 500 AM CDT THU JUL 12 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN BE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT...PRIMARILY OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF A STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED...THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS COULD APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS...PRODUCING BRIEF...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL WILL OCCUR WITH ANY SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORM. EVEN WITH RAINFALL IN THE FORECAST...EXTREME WILDFIRE DANGER CONTINUES ACROSS THE NATURAL STATE...AND MOST COUNTIES HAVE BURN BANS IN PLACE. ANY FIRE THAT STARTS COULD SPREAD RAPIDLY AND QUICKLY GET OUT OF CONTROL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND...AS THE FRONT SLOWLY MEANDERS AROUND THE STATE AND INTERACTS WITH DISTURBANCES IN THE FLOW ALOFT. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED...A FEW STRONG AND SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. WHATEVER RAIN MATERIALIZES...IT WILL LIKELY HAVE LITTLE IMPACT ON THE ONGOING DROUGHT. OUTDOOR BURNING OF ANY KIND IS STRONGLY DISCOURAGED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ANY SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIMITED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 57
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 359 PM CDT THU JUL 12 2012 ARZ031-032-039-122145- CONWAY AR-FAULKNER AR-PERRY AR- 359 PM CDT THU JUL 12 2012 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN PERRY...WESTERN FAULKNER AND SOUTHERN CONWAY COUNTIES UNTIL 445 PM CDT... AT 356 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 2 MILES EAST OF MENIFEE...OR 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF CONWAY...MOVING WEST AT 20 MPH. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... MORRILTON... WOOSTER... TOAD SUCK... SEQUOYA PARK... OPPELO... MENIFEE... HOUSTON... HILL CREEK... PLUMERVILLE... OVERCUP... NEW DIXIE... MT OLIVE... BIGELOW... BEAVER FORK LAKE... STONY POINT... SPRING MEADOWS... SHADY GROVE... RIVERVIEW... THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 40 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 103 AND 124. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. LAT...LON 3496 9268 3518 9286 3528 9248 3513 9242 TIME...MOT...LOC 2059Z 074DEG 16KT 3515 9253 225
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:35 UTC.
4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Barns were blown down, roofs were blown off chicken houses and barns, and trees were blown down.
A number of trees were blown down.
A few trees were blown down, one of which fell on U.S. 71.
Trees were blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, July 2012
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: 382697, 382791, 383063, 383065, 383064.