Above-normal temperatures, a moist atmosphere, and the arrival of a weak area of low pressure aloft triggered an isolated severe storm in western Arkansas on the afternoon of the 31st.
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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.
Above-normal temperatures, a moist atmosphere, and the arrival of a weak area of low pressure aloft triggered an isolated severe storm in western Arkansas on the afternoon of the 31st.
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 31, 1:23 PM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 223 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 .DISCUSSION... MAIN CONCERNS THIS FORECAST CYCLE REMAIN ISOLATED CHANCES OF CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON TO EVENING...THEN AGAIN ON SUNDAY TO MONDAY WITH A FRONTAL SYSTEM. TEMPERATURE FORECAST AND POSSIBLE HEAT INDEX VALUES THROUGH SUNDAY...THEN A COOLER TREND BEHIND THE FRONT. ISOLATED CONVECTION HAS FORMED THIS AFTERNOON OVER WESTERN TO PARTS OF CENTRAL AR...WITHIN WEAK CONVERGENT SURFACE FLOW...WHILE THE WEAK UPPER SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE HOT...MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. OVERALL DO EXPECT CONVECTION TO REMAIN ISOLATED. TEMPS ARE RUNNING MID TO UPPER 90S...AND STILL EXPECTING A FEW 100 DEGREE READINGS. HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL REACH AROUND 105 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON TO EARLY EVENING...MOSTLY CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AR. THE UPPER HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE HAS MOVED MORE WEST CENTERING OVER WEST TX TO THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES...ALLOWING SOME SHORT WAVE ENERGY TO MOVE OVER AR. && .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF CONVECTION IN THE EARLY EVENING HOURS WHILE THE HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM. OVERNIGHT A FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO SAG SOUTH TO SOUTHERN MO...THEN DRIFT INTO AR ON SUNDAY...THEN SLOWLY EXIT SOUTH ON TUESDAY. OVERALL CONVECTION CHANCES WILL REMAIN IN THE CHANCE CAT...DUE TO LIMITED UPPER SUPPORT. STRONG TO SEVERE STORM THREAT WILL ALSO BE LOW WITH ONLY AN ISOLATED RISK. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE FILTERS IN OVER AR LATER TUESDAY TO WEDNESDAY AND BRINGS IN A DRIER AND COOLER AIR MASS. TEMPS WILL REMAIN ABOVE NORMAL ON SUNDAY WITH A CONTINUED THREAT OF HEAT INDEX VALUES FROM AROUND 100 TO 105. A HEAT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED. THEN TEMPS WILL LOWER BACK TO NORMAL TO A BIT BELOW NORMAL VALUES BEHIND THE FRONT. && .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL BE OVER THE ROCKIES TO BEGIN THE LONG TERM PERIOD. ARKANSAS SHOULD BE ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE CENTER OF HIGH PRESSURE THROUGH THIS PERIOD. WITH DRY AIR REMAINING IN PLACE... CHANCES OF RAIN WILL BE NEARLY NONEXISTENT. NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 75 98 72 92 / 20 30 30 20 CAMDEN AR 75 99 73 94 / 20 30 30 30 HARRISON AR 73 95 71 88 / 20 30 30 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 75 98 73 93 / 20 30 30 20 LITTLE ROCK AR 76 99 74 94 / 20 30 30 20 MONTICELLO AR 75 99 74 95 / 20 30 30 30 MOUNT IDA AR 74 98 72 93 / 20 30 30 20 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 73 96 71 90 / 20 30 20 10 NEWPORT AR 75 97 72 92 / 20 30 30 20 PINE BLUFF AR 75 99 73 94 / 20 30 30 30 RUSSELLVILLE AR 75 99 73 94 / 20 30 30 20 SEARCY AR 75 98 72 92 / 20 30 30 20 STUTTGART AR 75 98 72 93 / 20 30 30 20 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HEAT ADVISORY UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR ARKANSAS-BRADLEY- CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND-CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW- FAULKNER-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING-INDEPENDENCE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON- JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-OUACHITA-PERRY- PIKE-POLK-POPE-PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-VAN BUREN-WHITE- WOODRUFF-YELL. && SHORT TERM...59 / LONG TERM...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 954 AM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011000- 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- 954 AM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT HOT TEMPERATURES ARE ONCE AGAIN EXPECTED ACROSS ARKANSAS TODAY AS HIGH PRESSURE PERSISTS OVER THE REGION. AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL RANGE FROM 100 TO 108 DEGREES OVER A GOOD PORTION OF THE STATE. A HEAT ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS AFTERNOON FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTH ARKANSAS...AND MAY BE NEEDED FOR SUNDAY AS WELL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE THE DOMINANT WEATHER FEATURE OVER THE CENTRAL PART OF THE NATION THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEKEND. UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE HIGH...ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF RAINFALL. AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES WILL RANGE FROM 100 TO 105 DEGREES ON SUNDAY. HEADING INTO THE NEW WORK WEEK...THE UPPER HIGH WILL SHIFT WESTWARD INTO THE ROCKIES. THIS WILL ALLOW A COLD FRONT TO DROP SOUTHWARD ACROSS ARKANSAS ON MONDAY. SMALL RAIN CHANCES WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RETURN TO NORMAL LEVELS BEHIND THE FRONT. .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. 44/51
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 248 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 ARZ030-037-312020- LOGAN AR-SCOTT AR- 248 PM CDT SAT AUG 31 2013 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL SCOTT AND SOUTHWESTERN LOGAN COUNTIES UNTIL 315 PM CDT... AT 244 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF WALDRON...MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH. SMALL HAIL FROM PEA UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. * LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... WALDRON... CARDIFF... NEEDMORE... IONE... ELM PARK... CAROLAN... IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...TAKE SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. LAT...LON 3482 9387 3477 9418 3504 9413 3511 9398 TIME...MOT...LOC 1948Z 348DEG 5KT 3496 9402 59
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:49 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Power lines were blown down around Centerville, knocking out power to about 1,000 electric customers.
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: 465745.