For the second day in a row, morning thunderstorms in the northeast part of Arkansas sent out an outflow boundary of cool air. As this boundary collided with hot, humid air over central Arkansas at midday, new storms developed very quickly and a few of the storms became severe.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
For the second day in a row, morning thunderstorms in the northeast part of Arkansas sent out an outflow boundary of cool air. As this boundary collided with hot, humid air over central Arkansas at midday, new storms developed very quickly and a few of the storms became severe.
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 23, 8:30 AM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 930 AM CDT TUE JUL 23 2013 .DISCUSSION... MORNING CONVECTION MOVING SE OVER NE TO E PARTS OF AR. THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING AND GRADUALLY PUSHING OUT OF THE CWA. OUT FLOWS ARE INDICATED FROM THIS CONVECTION AND MAY BE ENOUGH LIFT NEEDED FOR LATER CONVECTION OVER CENTRAL AR. ATMOSPHERE REMAINS UNSTABLE AND MOIST WITH 12Z KLZK SOUNDING WITH A PRECIP WATER VALUE OF 2.02 INCHES...LI -10...CAPE 4700 J/KG. ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED LATER TODAY AND ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING TO EARLY OVERNIGHT WITH SHORT WAVE ENERGY AND FRONT LATER TONIGHT. TODAY EITHER JUST AIR MASS AND OUT FLOW BOUNDARY GENERATION...AS SHORT RANGE MODELS MOVE SHORT WAVE ENERGY MAINLY OUT OF AR TODAY. ALTHOUGH ADDITIONAL SHORT WAVE ENERGY IN THE UPPER NW FLOW AND SAGGING FRONTAL BOUNDARY TONIGHT WILL BRING ADDITIONAL STORMS TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...OVERALL FORECAST WILL BE FINE TUNED WITH LATE MORNING UPDATE. (59) && .PREV DISCUSSION... / ISSUED 645 AM CDT TUE JUL 23 2013/ .AVIATION... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING NORTH AND EAST OF LITTLE ROCK. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL BE NOTED TODAY. LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND ESPECIALLY TONIGHT...A COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE FROM THE NORTH. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME LIKELY ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE SURROUNDING THE FRONT. WINDS TODAY WILL BE WEST TO SOUTHWEST AT 8 TO 14 MPH...WITH GUSTS FROM 16 TO 24 MPH IN SOME AREAS. WINDS TONIGHT WILL BE SOUTHWEST AT 5 TO 10 MPH...SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH. (46) && .SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AN UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WITH AN UPPER TROUGH OVER THE MIDWEST AND EASTERN U.S. THIS PATTERN WITH NORTHWEST FLOW OVER ARKANSAS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PERIOD. THE HIGH PRESSURE DOES NOT APPEAR IT WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE EAST AND WILL BE BLOCKED BY AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE. SEVERAL SHORT WAVES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHWEST FLOW AND BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. MODELS INDICATE POSSIBLE MCS DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT AND AGAIN ON FRIDAY NIGHT...MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NORTH ARKANSAS WEDNESDAY AND MOVE OUT OF SOUTH ARKANSAS LATE THURSDAY. THIS WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND WEDNESDAY THEN COOLER FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. && .LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY IT APPEARS A NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY WILL BE DRAPED ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS TO BEGIN THE PERIOD. DATA IS SHOWING A LARGE CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS/MCS TRACKING ALONG AND NORTH OF THE FRONT ON SATURDAY...WITH PRECIPITATION EXITING THE AREA TO THE EAST SATURDAY NIGHT. THAT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A NEW COLD FRONT FROM THE NORTH ON SUNDAY. THE FRONT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY CLEARING... COOLER/DRIER AIR AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES. TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD...A NORTHWEST WIND FLOW ALOFT MAY BRING A WEAK SYSTEM FROM THE PLAINS. KEPT SLIGHT CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY NIGHT AS A RESULT...MAINLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 92 73 88 67 / 50 60 60 20 CAMDEN AR 96 73 95 72 / 20 30 40 20 HARRISON AR 91 72 88 67 / 50 60 60 20 HOT SPRINGS AR 95 74 94 71 / 30 40 40 20 LITTLE ROCK AR 94 74 93 71 / 30 50 50 20 MONTICELLO AR 95 73 94 71 / 30 40 40 30 MOUNT IDA AR 95 73 95 71 / 20 30 30 20 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 91 72 88 66 / 50 60 60 20 NEWPORT AR 92 74 88 68 / 50 60 60 20 PINE BLUFF AR 95 74 93 71 / 30 40 50 30 RUSSELLVILLE AR 94 74 92 69 / 30 50 50 20 SEARCY AR 93 74 90 70 / 40 50 50 20 STUTTGART AR 94 74 93 71 / 40 50 50 20 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...51 / LONG TERM...46
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK..CORRECT EXPIRATION TIME NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT TUE JUL 23 2013 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-241000- 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 JUL 23 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS MORNING IN PORTIONS OF NORTHERN AND EASTERN ARKANSAS. PRECIPITATION MAY DIMINISH BY MIDDAY...WITH A MOSTLY QUIET AND HOT AFTERNOON. TEMPERATURES ACROSS MOST OF THE REGION WILL CLIMB INTO THE 90S THIS AFTERNOON. HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL BE HIGH ENOUGH TO CREATE HEAT INDEX VALUES FROM 100 TO 104 DEGREES IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE. A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTH TONIGHT. THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO TRIGGER ANOTHER ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COUNTIES. AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN ARE ANTICIPATED...AND THERE COULD BE SOME SEVERE WEATHER. STRONG TO DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ARE THE MAIN CONCERN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONT WILL SLIDE INTO SOUTHERN ARKANSAS ON WEDNESDAY BEFORE STALLING. THE FRONT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY SLIGHTLY COOLER AND DRIER AIR ACROSS THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE STATE. ALONG AND NORTH OF THE FRONT...SMALL CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. IT WILL BECOME MORE ACTIVE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY AS A NEW COLD FRONT ARRIVES FROM THE PLAINS. AHEAD OF THE FRONT...A LARGE CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BUILD FROM KANSAS AND OKLAHOMA INTO ARKANSAS. SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN ARE EXPECTED MAINLY FROM LITTLE ROCK NORTHWARD...WITH HIT AND MISS STORMS FARTHER SOUTH. THE NEW FRONT WILL BE FOLLOWED BY BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES DURING THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY...BUT MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT AS A COLD FRONT PUSHES INTO THE STATE FROM THE NORTH. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 46
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 9 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:02 UTC.
9 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A rain gage operated by the Little Rock Wastewater Utility measured 1.16 inches of rain in 34 minutes.
A spotter estimated winds at 60 mph.
Trees were blown down.
Trees and power lines were blown down.
Trees and power lines were blown down.
A large tree limb fell onto a car in Gulpha Gorge. There was one minor injury.
Large tree limbs were snapped off.
Flash flooding was reported in several parts of Hot Springs.
A spotter estimated winds at 60 mph.
A torrential downpour dropped 1.04 inches of rain in only 9 minutes on Petit Jean Mountain.
An experienced storm spotter estimated that winds were easily gusting to 60 mph just north of Conway.
Just west of Hot Springs, thunderstorm winds damaged two businesses in a strip mall. At a dollar store, winds blew in through a roll-up garage door in the back, traveled through the store and rearranged some of the merchandise, then blew out the front doors. Part of the ceiling and ceiling tiles were left sagging in the front of the store. A consignment shop next door also had ceiling tiles fall. At the same intersection, a second dollar store had a window blown out, part of the roof damaged, and sagging ceiling tiles. Also at the same intersection, a portable storage building was blown off its concrete blocks and destroyed. In nearby areas, numerous trees and power lines were blown down, and a number of power poles were snapped off. Several of the trees fell on houses. A billboard was partially destroyed. A small barn was destroyed. On Rock Creek Bay, part of the western end of Lake Hamilton, a boat dock and party barge were overturned.
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: 455028, 455030, 455034, 455072, 455056, 455061, 455060, 455063, 455062, 455073, 455079, 456065, 455074, 455076, 455075, 455084, 455083.