Most of June and the first part of July were dry in Arkansas. Areas of severe drought developed in parts of northwest and southwest Arkansas at the middle of the month.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Most of June and the first part of July were dry in Arkansas. Areas of severe drought developed in parts of northwest and southwest Arkansas at the middle of the month. Rain later in the month reduced the two areas.
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 16, 5:16 AM CST, 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 616 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2013 .AVIATION... LOW CLOUDS AND FOG OVERNIGHT DID NOT DEVELOP AS EXPECTED...LIKELY THANKS TO FAIRLY EXPANSIVE OVERCAST SKIES. WENT AHEAD AND PULLED MENTION OF SCT MVFR BASES FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SITES...AND LIMITED ANY NON-VFR FLIGHT CATEGORIES AT KHRO AND KBPK TO SOME MVFR FOG THIS MORNING. THE FOG UP NORTH WOULD BE INDICATIVE OF A VERY MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER WHICH COULD YIELD SOME 700-1500 FT CIGS AS IT OVERTURNS AFTER SUNRISE THIS MORNING...BUT WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE FOG/LOW CLOUDS ON SATELLITE IMAGERY THIS MORNING TO BUY INTO THAT. ALSO MADE SOME CHANGES WITH REGARD TO MENTION OF PRECIP. PULLED MENTION OF VCSH AT ALL SITES TODAY. CONVECTION SHOULD BE SCATTERED ENOUGH THAT MENTIONING VCSH IS A BIT GENEROUS. DECIDED TO PULL VCSH AND LET FUTURE SHIFTS MONITOR FOR AMENDMENTS IF NECESSARY. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 320 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2013/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY UPPER LOW WE/VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE LAST FEW DAYS WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES...WITH THE UPPER RIDGE CENTERED NEAR THE GREAT LAKES REGION PUSHING SOUTHWESTWARD. THERE WILL CONTINUE TO BE SMALL RAIN CHANCES AS SEVERAL IMPULSES MOVE THROUGH THE REGION IN SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT. HOWEVER...THE BEST CHANCES OF ANYONE SEEING ANYTHING WILL BE IN THE FAR WEST AND SOUTHWEST. OTHERWISE...TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE CLOSE TO SEASONAL AVERAGES TODAY WITH VARIABLE CLOUDINESS. BY WEDNESDAY...THE RIDGE WILL PUSH ENOUGH INTO THE REGION TO SHUNT MUCH OF THE DEEPER MOISTURE TO THE SOUTHWEST...ENDING WHAT RAIN CHANCES THERE ARE...AT LEAST FOR THE TIME BEING. BY THURSDAY...THE UPPER RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO FLATTEN OUT. TROPICAL MOISTURE FROM THE GULF WILL BEGIN TO SURGE NORTHWARD NEAR AN APPROACHING UPPER LOW...WITH RAIN CHANCES INCREASING AGAIN. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX VALUES APPROACHING OR POSSIBLY EXCEEDING 100 DEGREES IN PORTIONS OF THE AREA BY WEDNESDAY...AND IN ALL BUT THE EXTREME NORTHWEST BY FRIDAY. AS IS THE CASE THIS TIME OF YEAR...CONVECTION WILL LARGELY BE DIURNAL IN NATURE. LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY MODELS CONTINUE TO SHOW A CHANGE FROM A ZONAL UPPER LEVEL FLOW PATTERN LATE THIS WEEK...TO A MORE AMPLIFIED PATTERN WITH TROUGHING IN THE EASTERN CONUS AND RIDGING IN THE WEST. FURTHERMORE...MOST NUMERICAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTS THAT THE NORTHWESTERLY UPPER FLOW OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND MID MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY WILL HELP PUSH A FRONTAL BOUNDARY INTO ARKANSAS OR SUNDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR NORMAL VALUES FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY AS MOIST SOUTHWEST LOW AND MID LEVEL WINDS KEEP THE STATE FAIRLY WARM. EXPECT SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE SOUTHERN OR SOUTHEASTERN HALF OF THE STATE FRIDAY EVENING AND AGAIN ON SATURDAY...THE AREA WHERE MOISTURE RETURN WILL BE BEST. SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...BROAD BRUSHED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS ARE IN THE FORECAST. WHILE MOST GUIDANCE AGREES ON A FRONT PUSHING INTO THE REGION...DETAILS ON THE PLACEMENT OF THE FRONT AND ANY CONVECTION ALONG OR AHEAD OF IT ARE NOT WELL AGREED UPON AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER IT IS WORTH NOTING THE GFS HAS BEEN SHOWING A SUNDAY FRONTAL PASSAGE FOR A FEW RUNS NOW AND THE MEX GUIDANCE SHOWS HIGHS ON SUN SOME 2-6 DEGREES BELOW CLIMO OUT ON DAY 4 AND 5. CONFIDENCE IN A SUNDAY FRONTAL PASSAGE AND ASSOC WIDESPREAD CONVECTION/RAINFALL IS INCREASING. MONDAY LOOKS TO BE DRY...AS MOISTURE IS SHUNTED TO THE SOUTH OF THE STATE...BUT BACK TO NORMAL TEMPERATURE WISE WITH CLEARING SKIES AND SUMMER SUN. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...57
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 453 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 2013 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-171000- 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- 453 AM CDT TUE JUL 16 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY HIGH TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH A HUMID AIR MASS WILL PRODUCE HEAT INDICES AROUND 100 DEGREES EACH AFTERNOON FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought developed across the southwest corner of Boone County at the middle of July, but rain soon thereafter reduced the drought back to moderate.
Severe drought developed across the western part of Searcy County at the middle of July, but rain soon thereafter reduced the drought back to moderate.
Severe drought developed across much of Newton County at the middle of July, but rain soon thereafter reduced most of the drought back to moderate. The only part of the county remaining in severe drought at the end of July was the west central portion.
Severe drought developed over extreme southern Clark County at the middle of July. However, rain during the latter part of the month reduced the drought back to moderate by the end of July.
Severe drought developed over the western half of Ouachita County at the middle of July, then expanded to encompass then entire county. However, rain late in the month reduced the drought back to moderate countywide by the end of July.
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, July 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: 457325, 457326, 457327, 457328, 457330.