A cold front pushed through Arkansas on the 20th and 21st. As it did so, it met up with tropical moisture that had streamed in from Pacific Hurricane Manuel.
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.
A cold front pushed through Arkansas on the 20th and 21st. As it did so, it met up with tropical moisture that had streamed in from Pacific Hurricane Manuel. The result was heavy rainfall over much of southern, central, and eastern Arkansas. The heaviest rain fell in a swath about 90 miles side from the southwest corner of Arkansas through Pine Bluff into east central Arkansas. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4.5 inches were common south of a line from Murfreesboro to Little Rock to Searcy to McCrory. In the southern part of the state, this rain fell over areas that were in severe to extreme drought. Rain exited southeast Arkansas on the morning of the 22nd. The heavy rain caused some drought-weakened trees to fall. As a result, several thousand people lost power.
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 19, 11:40 PM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1240 AM CDT FRI SEP 20 2013 .AVIATION...20/06Z TAF CYCLE SHRA/TSRA WL CONT TO INCRS ACRS THE AREA THRU THE EARLY MRNG HRS. CONDS WL DETERIORATE ONCE PRECIP COMMENCES AT A GIVEN LOCATION... DROPPING TO MVFR/OCNL IFR LVLS THRU MUCH OF THE PD. ASSOCD CDFNT WL SLOLY PASS ACRS AR LATER TODAY AND TNGT...WITH IMPROVING CONDS ONCE WINDS SHIFT TO THE N/NW AND DRIER AIR MOVES IN. /44/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 220 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT NOT TOO MANY CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE SHORT TERM. MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE A FRONTAL BOUNDARY APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST LATE TONIGHT...WITH AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM MOVING UP FROM THE SOUTHWEST. THE SYSTEMS WILL INTERACT...AND WITH GULF AND PACIFIC MOISTURE PRESENT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND OVERSPREAD THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY. HOWEVER...THERE REMAINS A BIT OF UNCERTAINTY REGARDING JUST HOW MUCH RAIN WILL BE SEEN AND WHERE THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAIN WILL SET UP. INDICATIONS ARE THAT A PLUME OF HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER WILL STREAM NORTH ACROSS EASTERN TEXAS AND THEN NORTHEAST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF ARKANSAS. THIS WILL BE WHERE THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAIN RESIDES. MOST EVERYONE WILL SEE A DECENT RAIN...WITH A QUARTER TO A HALF INCH NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION FOR ANYONE. BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS JUST HOW FAR NORTH THIS PLUME WILL MAKE IT AND WHERE WILL THE HEAVIER RAIN FALL. THE GFS PLACES IT ROUGHLY ALONG THE I-30/US-67 CORRIDOR FROM TEXARKANA UP THROUGH LITTLE ROCK TO BATESVILLE. THE NAM IS IN A SIMILAR PLACE...BUT SHOWS RAINFALL TOTALS THAT ARE LESS THAN HALF OF THE GFS. STILL OTHERS LIKE THE CANADIAN AND EURO PLACE IT FURTHER SOUTHEAST FROM CAMDEN UP THROUGH PINE BLUFF OR THEREABOUTS. GENERALLY SPEAKING THE CONSENSUS IS THAT THE MOISTURE PLUME MAY NOT MAKE IT FAR ENOUGH NORTH TO GIVE THE COPIOUS RAIN AMOUNTS THE GFS IS SHOWING...AND THAT RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE HIGHEST ALONG OR MORE LIKELY TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE I-30/US-67 CORRIDOR. AS SUCH...THE FORECAST WILL REFLECT STORM TOTAL RAIN AMOUNTS FROM TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY OF 1.50 TO 2.00 INCHES ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA. THIS WILL BE A CONVECTIVE FRONTAL PASSAGE SO THERE ARE LIKELY TO BE SPOTS THAT RECEIVE MORE THAN 2 INCHES. TOTALS OF 3 INCHES ARE NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION...BUT FEEL THAT WIDESPREAD 3-4 INCHES OF RAIN THAT SOME MODELS ARE GENERATING ARE TOO CONTAMINATED WITH CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK TO TRUST AT THIS TIME. OTHERWISE THERE IS NOT A LOT TO TALK ABOUT IN THE SHORT TERM. HIGHS TOMORROW WILL BE TRICKY BUT SHOULD GENERALLY BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S...THOUGH LOW 80S COULD BE SEEN IN THE SOUTHEAST DEPENDING ON HOW THICK CLOUD COVER IS THROUGH MIDDAY BEFORE THE RAIN ARRIVES. ONCE THE FRONT CLEARS THE AREA HIGHS WILL BE IN THE 70S TO AROUND 80 THROUGH THE WEEKEND...WITH LOWS IN THE 50S. LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY QUIET WEATHER WILL CONTINUE IN THE LONG TERM...AS HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER THE REGION. TEMPERATURES WILL NEAR NORMAL...WITH A SLOW WARMING TREND THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK. WHILE THERE IS SOME GUIDANCE SHOWING A INCREASE IN MOISTURE ON TUESDAY...HAVE LEFT DRY DUE TO THE INCONSISTENCY. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1045 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-201000- 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- 1045 PM CDT THU SEP 19 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE OVER NORTHWEST AND WESTERN ARKANSAS...WILL SCATTERED CONVECTION OVER THE REST OF THE STATE THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING. THIS IS IN ADVANCE OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. A FEW STRONGER STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AND PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...BUT ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED. 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...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL OVERSPREAD THE REST OF THE AREA ON FRIDAY AS THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS ARKANSAS. A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN THREAT. RAINFALL AMOUNTS BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH LOOK TO BE COMMON ACROSS THE AREA. HOWEVER...PARTS OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS COULD SEE BETWEEN ONE AND TWO INCHES OF RAINFALL. LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING MAY BE SEEN. RAIN CHANCES WILL DIMINISH FROM THE NORTHWEST FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES FURTHER SOUTH OF THE STATE. NORTH WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL USHER COOLER AND DRIER AIR INTO THE MID SOUTH. DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. .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. 44/59
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
21 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Rainfall measured 3.76 inches at Lock #2 on the Arkansas River.
Rainfall measured 3.64 inches at Georgetown.
Rainfall amounts included 3.26 inches at Brasfield and 3.18 inches at Des Arc.
During the morning of the 21st, trees fell in two different places on Arkansas 84 east of Bismarck, blocking the highway. Then, early in the evening, a tree fell on the westbound lanes of Interstate 30 about 3 miles northeast of Friendship. The tree blocked the highway. One car ran into the fallen tree, but no one was injured. Then, a two-car accident occurred, but once again, there were no injuries. Rainfall measured 3.10 inches at Malvern.
Rainfall amounts included 4.27 inches at Leola and 4.13 inches at Sheridan.
Rainfall amounts included 4.26 inches at Pine Bluff and 3.05 inches at Harden Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River.
Rainfall amounts included 3.59 inches at DeGray Dam and 3.43 inches at Arkadelphia.
Rainfall amounts included 5.26 inches at Sparkman and 4.27 inches at Fordyce.
Rainfall measured 3.05 inches at Harden Lock and Dam on the Arkansas River.
Rainfall measured 4.04 inches at Camden.
Rainfall amounts included 4.42 inches at Rohwer, 3.83 inches at Kelso, 3.76 inches at Lock #2 on the Arkansas River, and 3.41 inches at Montgomery Point.
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: 469908, 469910, 469911, 469912, 469913, 469914, 469915, 469916, 469917, 469918, 469919, 469920, 469921, 469923, 469924, 469926, 469927, 469929, 469930, 469931, 469933.