Drought in Arkansas, October 1 to 31, 2012

Name: Drought in Arkansas, October 1 to 31, 2012
Start: 2012-10-01T00:00
End: 2012-10-31T23:59
Location: Arkansas

October 1 to 31, 2012 · NWS TSA · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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.

Rainfall during October 2012 was once again below normal across much of northwestern Arkansas. The exception was across portions of Franklin County and much of Carroll County, where thunderstorms brought locally heavy rainfall to those areas during the middle of the month. As a result of much of the area receiving between 25 and 75 percent of normal rainfall for the month, severe (D2) to extreme (D3) drought conditions persisted across all of northwestern Arkansas. Monetary damage estimates resulting from the drought were not available.

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 Sep 30, 5:28 PM CST, 6 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 30, 5:28 PM CST, 6 hours 32 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 30, 4:25 PM CST, 7 hours 35 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
525 PM CDT SUN SEP 30 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-
525 PM CDT SUN SEP 30 2012

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

DISCUSSION...
LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN SHOWERS WILL COME TO AN END ACROSS SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND WEST-CENTRAL ARKANSAS TONIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL
LOW OVER THE ARKLATEX MOVES OFF TO THE EAST.

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

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
MONDAY...VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER POTENTIAL...HIGH WIND POTENTIAL.
TUESDAY...NO HAZARDS.
WEDNESDAY...VERY HIGH FIRE WEATHER POTENTIAL.
THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
GUSTY NORTHERLY WINDS AROUND 20 TO 25 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE BEHIND
THE EXITING UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE ON MONDAY. THESE WINDS ALONG
WITH WARMER TEMPERATURES WILL INCREASE FIRE DANGERS OVER THE
REGION. VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER LOCATIONS
THAT RECEIVED LITTLE TO NO RECENT RAINFALL. FIRE DANGER WILL
REMAIN OVER THE REGION TUESDAY WITH VERY HIGH FIRE DANGER
AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY AS A BREEZY SOUTHERLY WIND DEVELOPS AHEAD
OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT.

A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
DURING THE DAY THURSDAY WITH AN ASSOCIATED CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
THE CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER INTO THE
WEEKEND AS THE FRONT MAY BE SLOW TO MOVE OUT OF THE AREA.

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

7 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Benton

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Benton forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 36.339, -94.256 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Carroll

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Carroll forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 36.341, -93.538 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Crawford

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Crawford forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Drought, Franklin

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Franklin forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Drought, Madison

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 36.011, -93.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Sebastian

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Sebastian forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations

Drought, Washington

When: October 1, 12:00 AM CST to October 31, 11:59 PM CST
Where: Washington forecast zone
Reported by: Official NWS Observations
Coordinates: 35.979, -94.216 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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, October 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 411710, 411711, 411712, 411713, 411714, 411715, 411716.