During August, afternoon heating and the passage of a couple of cold fronts produced only spotty rainfall across southern Arkansas. By the end of the month, severe drought began to appear across much of the southern part of the state.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
During August, afternoon heating and the passage of a couple of cold fronts produced only spotty rainfall across southern Arkansas. By the end of the month, severe drought began to appear across much of the southern part of the state.
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 Aug 20, 5:23 AM CST, 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 623 AM CDT TUE AUG 20 2013 .AVIATION... WIDELY SCATTERED...MARGINAL MVFR VSBYS DUE TO GROUND FOG WILL CLEAR BY 14Z. A LIGHT EAST-SOUTHEAST SFC FLOW WILL PREVAIL THRUGH THE PERIOD. 55 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 255 AM CDT TUE AUG 20 2013/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE HAS NOT BEEN MUCH APPRECIABLE CHANGE IN THINKING FROM THIS TIME LAST NIGHT. THROUGH THE FIRST FEW DAYS OF THE PERIOD...UPPER RIDGING WILL BE OVER THE HIGH PLAINS AND EAST COAST...WITH TROUGHING IN BETWEEN. PRECIP WILL BE POSSIBLE EAST OF THE TROUGH... WITH LITTLE TO WORK WITH WEST OF IT...INCLUDING ARKANSAS. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY INCREASE THROUGH THE NEXT FEW DAYS. FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...BUT SHOULD BURN OFF/SCATTER OUT AFTER SUNRISE EACH DAY. WITH NO MAJOR FORCING MECHANISM PRESENT OR EXPECTED...THERE WILL BE NO APPRECIABLE RAIN CHANCES. BY THE END OF THE PERIOD...THE HIGH OVER THE EAST COAST WILL DAMPEN OUT...WHICH SHOULD ALLOW THE TROUGH TO MOVE EAST. AT THE SAME TIME...THE RIDGE OVER THE PLAINS WILL REORIENT ITSELF OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS...WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR DRY CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE. THE RIDGE...HOWEVER...IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO ALLOW FOR ANOMALOUSLY HOT TEMPERATURES...SO READINGS SHOULD CONTINUE TO LARGELY BE WITHIN A COUPLE OF DEGREES OF SEASONAL AVERAGES. LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE WILL BECOME CENTERED OVER THE OZARKS DURING THIS PERIOD. THIS FEATURE WILL PROMOTE DRY CONDITIONS... HOWEVER THE STRUCTURE OF THIS FEATURE IS NOT EXPECTED TO PROMOTE ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 86 63 90 68 / 10 10 10 10 CAMDEN AR 93 66 94 69 / 10 10 10 10 HARRISON AR 85 64 89 67 / 0 0 0 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 89 67 93 70 / 10 10 10 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 89 68 93 71 / 10 10 10 10 MONTICELLO AR 93 67 93 70 / 10 10 10 10 MOUNT IDA AR 89 64 92 65 / 10 10 10 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 88 63 90 66 / 0 0 0 0 NEWPORT AR 88 64 90 68 / 10 10 10 10 PINE BLUFF AR 90 66 92 68 / 10 10 10 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 89 65 92 67 / 10 0 10 10 SEARCY AR 88 64 91 67 / 10 10 10 10 STUTTGART AR 89 67 92 71 / 10 10 10 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT TUE AUG 20 2013 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-211000- 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 TUE AUG 20 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 55
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought developed in the southeastern panhandle portion of Jefferson County late in August.
Severe drought developed over the southern half of Arkansas County late in August.
Severe drought developed over all of Calhoun County late in August.
Severe drought developed over the southeastern corner of Dallas County late in August.
Severe drought developed over the southeastern two-thirds of Ouachita County late in August.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, August 2013
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: 466856, 466857, 466858, 466859, 466860.