Dry weather from August into September resulted in the development of severe drought in parts of central and eastern Arkansas during the middle of September. Conditions improved following rainfall from the 20th into the 21st.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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.
Dry weather from August into September resulted in the development of severe drought in parts of central and eastern Arkansas during the middle of September. Conditions improved following rainfall from the 20th into the 21st.
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 Sep 17, 5:14 AM CST, 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 614 AM CDT TUE SEP 17 2013 .DISCUSSION... UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE 12Z AVIATION DISCUSSION BELOW... && .AVIATION... IFR AND MVFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST AT THE NRN SITES OVER THE NEXT COUPLE HRS OR SO...THEN WILL GRADUALLY SEE IMPROVEMENTS BY LATE MORNING. EVEN SO...CONTINUE TO MENTION VCTS AS SOME SHRA/TSRA COULD MOVE NEAR OR OVER THE SITES. ELSEWHERE...LESS CHANCES FOR PRECIP EXIST...WITH MAYBE AN ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL BE DOMINANT THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 304 AM CDT TUE SEP 17 2013/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT THE MAJORITY OF THE SENSIBLE WEATHER...UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK... WILL BE PRIMARILY DRIVEN BY SMALLER SCALE FEATURES UNTIL A LARGE SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURE ARRIVES LATE IN THE PERIOD. SHORT TERM MODELS REMAIN IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH BOTH THE SMALL SCALE AND LARGE SCALE FEATURES AND WILL CONTINUE TO BLEND FORECAST SOLUTIONS WITH A LEAN TOWARDS THE MORE CONSISTENT GFS/NAM COMBO. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS THE BOUNDARY THAT WAS APPROACHING THE NORTH AT THIS TIME LAST NIGHT DID INDEED CROSS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA AND IS NOW LOCATED ALONG THE RED RIVER AND INTO EXTREME SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. THERE IS NO REAL APPRECIABLE CHANGE IN AIR MASS ACROSS THE BOUNDARY WITH THE COOLER AND DRIER AIR WELL TO THE NORTH WITH ONLY A SLIGHT WIND SHIFT TO MARK ITS PASSAGE. OVERALL PROGRESSIVE PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH MOISTURE CHANNEL IMAGERY REVEALING TROUGHS OVER BOTH THE NORTHEAST AND NORTHWEST QUADRANTS OF THE COUNTRY. A GENERALLY BROAD AND WEAK RIDGE WILL REMAIN ALONG THE GULF COAST UNTIL THE TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MAKES ITS PRESENCE FELT ACROSS THE MID SOUTH. ONLY ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE AREA THROUGH THURSDAY WITH THE BEST CHANCES REMAINING OVER THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA WHEN A FEW WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVE THROUGH DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. OTHERWISE...EVEN LATE DAY CONVECTION WILL BE HARD TO COME BY DURING THIS TIME FRAME ALTHOUGH WILL KEEP HIGHER POPS OVER THE NORTHWEST LATE THURSDAY AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES. AFOREMENTIONED NORTHWEST TROUGH DEEPENS AND MOVES ACROSS THE NATIONS MID SECTION THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY TAKING ON A POSITIVE TILT AS IT DOES. SYSTEM WILL DRAG A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE STATE FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT...REACHING FAR SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS BY THE END OF THE PERIOD. PWATS WILL BE IN THE 1.5 TO 2.25 INCH RANGE AND WILL CONTINUE WITH THE HIGH SCATTERED/LOW END LIKELY POPS AS THE FRONT MOVES THROUGH. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN ON THE WARM SIDE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS UNDERNEATH THE INFLUENCE OF THE RIDGE. READINGS WILL BE COOLER ON FRIDAY WITH CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION IN IN THE AREA BUT WILL STILL AVERAGE ABOVE NORMAL. MAV/MEX NUMBERS LOOK REASONABLE AND ARE GENERALLY ACCEPTED. LONG TERM...SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY... THE COLD FRONT WILL BE DROPPING SOUTH OF THE STATE AT THE START OF THE LONG TERM PERIOD...WITH SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ENDING FROM THE NW TO THE SE BY SAT AFTERNOON. BEHIND THIS FRONT...SOMEWHAT COOLER...BUT MUCH DRIER AIR WILL BE MOVING INTO THE REGION FOR THE REST OF THE WEEKEND. TEMPS WILL HOVER NEAR OR BELOW NORMAL...WITH HIGHS IN THE 70S AND 80S...AND LOWS IN THE 50S AND 60S. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 85 65 89 67 / 20 10 20 10 CAMDEN AR 93 68 93 68 / 20 10 20 10 HARRISON AR 84 66 87 65 / 20 20 20 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 90 68 91 68 / 20 10 20 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 89 67 91 68 / 10 10 20 10 MONTICELLO AR 93 68 93 69 / 10 10 10 10 MOUNT IDA AR 90 68 91 66 / 20 10 20 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 84 65 88 66 / 20 20 20 10 NEWPORT AR 86 66 90 67 / 20 10 20 10 PINE BLUFF AR 91 67 92 68 / 10 10 10 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 87 67 91 67 / 20 10 20 10 SEARCY AR 87 65 90 67 / 10 10 20 10 STUTTGART AR 90 67 91 68 / 10 10 20 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...62
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 332 AM CDT TUE SEP 17 2013 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-181000- 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- 332 AM CDT TUE SEP 17 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH LATE THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER WILL REMAIN LOW THROUGH TONIGHT. WILDFIRE DANGER REMAINS IN THE MODERATE TO HIGH CATEGORY ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE AT THIS TIME. BURN BANS REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS MANY COUNTIES ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS BECAUSE OF THESE DRY CONDITIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SOME ISOLATED AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. CHANCES FOR MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INCREASE FOR FRIDAY AS A COLD FRONT DROPS SOUTH INTO THE STATE. SOME STRONG STORMS COULD DEVELOP WITH THIS ACTIVITY...ESPECIALLY FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS COLD FRONT WILL MOVE JUST SOUTH OF THE STATE BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...WITH DRIER CONDITIONS EXPECTED INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK BEHIND THE FRONT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 62
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe drought developed over southeastern Lonoke County during the middle of the month, but conditions improved later in the month.
Severe drought developed over southern Prairie County during the middle of the month, but conditions improved later in the month.
Severe drought developed over the southern half of Monroe County during the middle of the month, but conditions improved later in the month.
Severe drought developed over the eastern and southern parts of Grant County during the middle of the month, but conditions improved later in the month.
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, September 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: 471759, 471760, 471761, 471762.