Periodic precipitation during January improved drought conditions in Arkansas.
Every event with a place to put it; 16 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.
Periodic precipitation during January improved drought conditions in Arkansas.
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 Dec 31, 11:20 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1120 PM CST MON DEC 31 2012 .AVIATION... MVFR CONDITIONS WILL BECOME IFR LATER THIS EVENING...AS RAINFALL CONTINUES TO MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF THE STATE. BEHIND THE RAINFALL...DRIZZLE IS POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH FOG. HAVE ADDED FG FOR THE NORTHERN SITES...AND IFR FOR THE SOUTHERN SITES. CONDITIONS WILL BEGIN TO IMPROVE DURING THE DAY TUESDAY...BUT WILL REMAIN MVFR. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 224 PM CST MON DEC 31 2012/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO BE FAIRLY WIDESPREAD THROUGH EARLY EVENING...AS AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM CONTINUES TO MOVE THROUGH THE REGION AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING FRONTAL BOUNDARY. THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL PUSH INTO THE REGION TONIGHT... WITH RAINFALL SHIFTING A BIT EASTWARD. WIDESPREAD PRECIP SHOULD COME TO AN END AFTER MIDNIGHT IN THE NORTH...BUT WITH THE BOUNDARY SLOWLY MOVING...RAIN WILL LIKELY LINGER IN THE SOUTHEAST HALF THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. BEHIND THE BOUNDARY...THE AIRMASS WILL RETAIN MOISTURE...WITH SOME PATCHY LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE AND/OR FREEZING FOG POSSIBLE ACROSS THE NORTH LATE TONIGHT/EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. ALL PRECIP SHOULD CLEAR THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY EVENING...WITH COOLER AIR MOVING INTO THE STATE. THE COOL AIR WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK...WITH A REINFORCING SHOT DROPPING DOWN LATE WEDNESDAY/EARLY THURSDAY. LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY ABOVE AVERAGE WINTERTIME FORECAST CONFIDENCE EXISTS CONCERNING OF SENSIBLE WEATHER ELEMENTS DURING THIS PERIOD. A SPLIT UPPER FLOW WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE U.S....WITH A CONFLUENT FLOW ACROSS THE MID SOUTH. DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THOUGHT THE PERIOD. COOL CONDITIONS WILL START THE PERIOD...WARMING TO NEAR NORMAL LATE. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...58
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 410 PM CST MON DEC 31 2012 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011100- 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- 410 PM CST MON DEC 31 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AREAS OF FREEZING FOG WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT IN AREAS NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 40 CORRIDOR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...NEW YEARS DAY THROUGH SUNDAY 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. 58
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
27 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the western part of Izard County, with severe drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, only moderate drought existed in the county.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered the northern part of Boone County, with extreme drought elsewhere. Conditions improved slightly during the month. At the end of January, severe drought covered the entire county.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered the extreme northern part of Baxter County, with extreme drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought lingered only over the western part of the county, with moderate drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered all of Fulton County, except for the southwest corner, where extreme drought existed. Conditions improved during the month. By the end of the month, moderate drought existed over the county.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered the northwestern half of Sharp County, with only moderate drought over the southeastern half. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered northern and western parts of the county, with only abnormally dry conditions elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the western part of Stone County, with severe drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered the county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered all of Newton County, except the southwestern corner of the county, where severe drought prevailed. Conditions improved slightly during the month. At the end of the month, extreme drought covered the northwestern part of the county, with severe drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered all of Searcy County. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought covered most of the county, except for moderate drought in the eastern part of the county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the eastern and southern edges of Johnson County, with severe drought elsewhere. Conditions improved slightly during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought covered the entire county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered Pope County, except for the extreme south, where severe drought prevailed. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought covered the northwestern half of the county, with only moderate drought over the southeastern half.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered northern and western parts of Van Buren County, with severe drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought existed only in the northwestern corner of the county, with moderate drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered Cleburne County, except for the eastern and southern edges of the county, where moderate drought existed. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered the northwestern part of the county, with only abnormally dry conditions elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered the northwestern corner of Independence County, with only moderate drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered the northwestern corner of the county, with only abnormally dry conditions elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered the extreme northern part of Marion County, with extreme drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought covered the entire county.
At the beginning of January, severe drought was occurring over the extreme northwestern part of Faulkner County, with moderate drought over northern and central parts of the county, and only abnormally dry conditions in the south. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought was occurring in the northwestern part of the county, with only abnormally dry conditions over most of the rest of the county. There was no indication of dryness at all in the southeastern corner of the county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered most of Logan County, except for the southeast, where severe drought prevailed. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, extreme drought covered the western tip of the county, with severe drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought prevailed in the northern tip and in the extreme southern part of Yell County, with severe drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought covered the northwestern half of the county, with only moderate drought over the southeastern half.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought prevailed over all but the northeastern corner of Scott County, where severe drought existed. Conditions improved slightly during the month. At the end of the month, extreme drought was occurring over the western part of the county, with severe drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought prevailed over all of Polk County. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought covered the county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought prevailed over all of Montgomery County. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought existed over the western part of the county, with only moderate drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, severe drought covered the western part of Perry County, with only moderate drought elsewhere. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered most of the county, except for only abnormally dry conditions in the eastern part of the county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the western part of Garland County, with severe drought over most of the remainder of the county. Moderate drought was occurring in the southeastern part of the county. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered the county, except for only abnormally dry conditions in the extreme southeast.
At the beginning of January, severe drought was occurring over the northwestern corner of Saline County, with moderate drought over most of the remainder of the county. In the southeastern part of the county, conditions were only abnormally dry. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought was occurring in the western part of the county, with abnormally dry conditions in central sections and no indication of dryness at all in the east.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the western tip of Hot Spring County, with severe drought over the remainder of the western part of the county. Moderate drought prevailed over central and eastern parts of the county, except for abnormally dry conditions in the southeastern corner. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered the western part of the county, with abnormally dry conditions over most of the remainder of the county. There was no indication of dryness at all in the southeastern part of the county.
At the beginning of January, the northwestern tip of Clark County had extreme drought, while most of the remainder of the western half of the county had severe drought. Most other sections of the county were experiencing moderate drought, except for the south, which was only abnormally dry. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought was occurring over the northwestern half of the county, with only abnormally dry conditions over most of the remainder of the county. There was no indication of dryness at all over the southeastern corner of the county.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the northern part of Pike County, with severe drought in the south. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, severe drought was occurring in the northwestern tip of the county, with moderate drought elsewhere.
At the beginning of January, extreme drought covered the northwestern part of Conway County, with severe drought over most of the remainder of the county. The southeastern corner of the county had only moderate drought. Conditions improved during the month. At the end of the month, moderate drought covered almost all of the county, except for abnormally dry conditions in the southeast corner of the county.
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, January 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: 423164, 423165, 423166, 423168, 423169, 423171, 423173, 423174, 423175, 423176, 423178, 423179, 423181, 423189, 423190, 423191, 423192, 423194, 423195, 423196, 423197, 423198, 423199, 423200, 423201, 423202, 423203.