A quasi-stationary front was draped across the area during the day on August 5, 2015. During the afternoon hours, an upper level disturbance triggered a complex of thunderstorms across Northern Arkansas.
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 MEG wrote it up.
A quasi-stationary front was draped across the area during the day on August 5, 2015. During the afternoon hours, an upper level disturbance triggered a complex of thunderstorms across Northern Arkansas. This complex tracked east-southeast along the frontal boundary and intensified as it approached the Memphis Metropolitan area. There was a severe storm in Poinsett County with several trees down.
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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 5, 2:38 PM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 338 PM CDT WED AUG 5 2015 .DISCUSSION... STRONG TO BORDERLINE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ONGOING ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF THE MIDSOUTH...MAINLY ALONG AND WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM. MID AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES VARY CONSIDERABLY ACROSS THE REGION DUE TO VARIATION BETWEEN RAIN COOLED AIR...AND AREAS THAT HAVE RECEIVED NEARLY FULL SUN SINCE SUNRISE. THE WARMEST READINGS...IN THE MIDDLE 90S...ARE CURRENTLY IN NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...WITH THE COOLEST READINGS...IN THE LOW 80S...IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. THE WARM TEMPERATURES FROM EAST CENTRAL ARKANSAS...EAST INTO PORTIONS OF WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI HAS RESULTED IN VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS...FEATURED BY CAPES IN EXCESS OF 2500 J/KG AND LI'S BETWEEN -4 AND -7 C. STORMS SHOULD CONTINUE ON THE STRONG TO SEVERE SIDE HERE...WITH THE SEVERE POTENTIAL DIMINISHING FARTHER NORTH IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL WHERE CONDITIONS ARE MORE STABLE. AFTER SUNSET...STORMS AREA WIDE SHOULD DIMINISH IN INTENSITY. TONIGHT...SHOWERS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN WEST ARKANSAS AND WEST MISSOURI AFTER MIDNIGHT AS A POSITIVELY TILTED SHORTWAVE ROTATES THROUGH THE AREA. THESE SHOWERS/STORMS SHOULD BE ONGOING ACROSS MUCH OF THE MIDSOUTH EARLY TOMORROW...CONTINUING THOROUGH THE DAY...ESPECIALLY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. A STRONG STORM OR TWO IS POSSIBLE...BUT SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. TEMPERATURES TOMORROW AND FRIDAY SHOULD BE HELD IN CHECK BY CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION. HIGHS MAY STRUGGLE TO CLIMB OUT OF THE MIDDLE 80S AT THE COOLEST LOCATIONS...BUT MOST OF THE MIDSOUTH SHOULD TOP OUT AROUND 90 DEGREES. OVER THE WEEKEND...GUIDANCE SEEMS TO WANT TO BUILD THE RIDGE BACK IN MORE AGGRESSIVELY. BY SUNDAY WE MAY APPROACH 100 DEGREES AGAIN AT THE WARMEST PORTIONS OF THE MIDSOUTH...INCLUDING THE MEMPHIS METRO. DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH MOISTURE ACCOMPANIES THE WARMER TEMPERATURES...WE MAY NEED A HEAT ADVISORY SUNDAY AND OR MONDAY. FOR NOW IT LOOKS LIKE MONDAY WILL BE THE HOTTEST DAY. GFS ENSEMBLE MEMBERS RANGE FROM 100 TO 97 ON SUNDAY AND 100 TO 94 MONDAY...SO THERE IS SOME HOPE THAT GUIDANCE IS A BIT TOO WARM BUT GIVEN THE FACT THAT HEAT SEEMS TO BE THE THEME OF SUMMER 2015...WILL SIDE TOWARD THE WARMER END OF GUIDANCE. TUESDAY INTO MIDWEEK...THE RIDGE SHOULD BREAK DOWN A BIT RESULTING IN SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES...BUT NO SIGNIFICANT RAIN CHANCES ARE IN SIGHT AFTER THE ONGOING EVENT. && .AVIATION...18Z TAFS SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY DEVELOPING NEAR MKL AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO SO THROUGH THE EARLY AFTERNOON. FURTHER WEST...A COMPLEX OF TSRA WAS ORGANIZING ACROSS NORTHWEST AR. THIS WILL LIKELY IMPACT BOTH JBR AND MEM THIS AFTERNOON...TIMING AROUND MEM BETWEEN 21 AND 23Z. WINDS WILL STAY LIGHT EXCEPT IN THUNDERSTORMS...PREVAILING FROM THE SSW. OVERNIGHT...HI RES GUIDANCE INDICATES BACK-BUILDING TSRA POTENTIAL ESPECIALLY AT JBR AND MEM. REPEATED EPISODES OF TSRA ARE POSSIBLE BUT TIMING THEM IS DIFFICULT AT BEST. ALL TERMINALS WILL LIKELY SEE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE OVERNIGHT/EARLY MORNING ON THURSDAY. WINDS WILL INCREASE ON THURSDAY INTO THE 10-15KT RANGE FROM THE WSW. TVT && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 249 PM CDT WED AUG 5 2015 ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115- MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>022-048>055-088>092-062200- ALCORN-BENTON MS-BENTON TN-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY- COAHOMA-CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DESOTO-DECATUR- DUNKLIN-DYER-FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD- HENDERSON-HENRY-ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE- LEE AR-LEE MS-MADISON-MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION- PANOLA-PEMISCOT-PHILLIPS-POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN- RANDOLPH-SHELBY-ST. FRANCIS-TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON- TISHOMINGO-TUNICA-UNION-WEAKLEY-YALOBUSHA- 249 PM CDT WED AUG 5 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS... THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A FEW STRONG TO ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT WITH DAMAGING WINDS AS THE MAIN THREAT FOR ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT REACH SEVERE LIMITS. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SOME STRONG TO PERHAPS ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH DAMAGING WINDS AS THE MAIN THREAT FOR ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT REACH SEVERE LIMITS. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. ADDITIONALLY...TEMPERATURES WILL TURN WARMER OVER THE WEEKEND WITH HEAT INDICES APPROACHING 105 DEGREES OR MORE. A HEAT ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED BY SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AT TIMES TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY.
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:53 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Straight line winds knocked down several trees in the Marked Tree area.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, August 2015
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: 598395.