A frontal boundary stalled over the state in early January 2015. An upper level storm system over the Four Corners region of the United States then slowly approached the state, with the subtropical jet stream lifting moisture north into Arkansas over the stalled front.
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 frontal boundary stalled over the state in early January 2015. An upper level storm system over the Four Corners region of the United States then slowly approached the state, with the subtropical jet stream lifting moisture north into Arkansas over the stalled front. This setup allowed for several rounds of rainfall to develop across the state, with some heavy rain and flash flooding reported during the first few days of the month.
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 Jan 3, 12:17 AM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1217 AM CST SAT JAN 3 2015 .AVIATION... AREAS OF RAIN CONTINUE ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT. AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL APPROACH FROM THE SOUTHWEST...AND A WARM FRONT FROM THE SOUTH. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATE IN THE MORNING INTO SATURDAY AFTERNOON. EXPECT CEILINGS TO LIFT LATE IN THE PERIOD. IFR AND LIFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 251 PM CST FRI JAN 2 2015/ SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT SHOWERS HAVE BEEN ONGOING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE STATE FOR MUCH OF THE DAY TODAY...WITH OVERCAST CONDITIONS AND DRIZZLE OBSERVED ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST TODAY. TEMPERATURES HAVE SLOWLY...BUT STEADILY RISEN THROUGH THE DAY TODAY...AND WILL CONTINUE TO WARM THROUGH THE NIGHT TONIGHT. PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE THROUGH THE NIGHT TONIGHT...WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM INTO A LINE AS THEY SWEEP THROUGH THE STATE DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE DAY ON SATURDAY. CONTINUE TO EXPECT HIGHEST QPF VALUES ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST PART OF THE STATE WITH BETWEEN AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES POSSIBLE. AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW SWINGS THROUGH THE STATE LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...A FEW SNOW FLAKES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE. COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE STATE SUNDAY MORNING FOLLOWED BY YET ANOTHER CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE PUSHING SE TOWARDS THE STATE. TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR STATIONARY ON SUNDAY...WITH DRY AND BELOW NORMAL CONDITIONS CONTINUING FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM. LONG TERM...TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE EXTENDED FORECAST WILL BE DRY AND COLD FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD WITH A CHANCE OF PRECIP LATE IN THE PERIOD WITH THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOISTURE. THE SECONDARY COLD FRONT AND ARCTIC AIR MASS WILL SPREAD OVER THE REGION WEDNESDAY TO THURSDAY...AND TAKE TEMPS 5 TO 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THE DEEP LOW PRESSURE TROUGH WILL BE OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL TO EASTERN U.S...ALONG WITH THE UPPER WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW. && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 707 AM CST FRI JAN 2 2015 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-031100- 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- 707 AM CST FRI JAN 2 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN AREA OF RAIN WILL OVERSPREAD ARKANSAS TONIGHT. THIS WILL BE THE RESULT OF A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL IMPULSES MOVING ACROSS THE REGION. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE...ALTHOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SURFACE LOW PRESSURE...AND AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT...WILL MOVE THROUGH THE STATE ON SATURDAY. THIS WILL RESULT IN ANOTHER ROUND OF RAIN AND WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. RAIN WILL EVENTUALLY END FROM THE WEST SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY SATURDAY EVENING AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES EAST OF THE STATE. SOME MOISTURE WILL LINGER ACROSS NORTHERN PARTS OF ARKANSAS SATURDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES MAY BE COLD ENOUGH SATURDAY NIGHT TO SEE A RAIN SNOW MIX ACROSS FAR NORTHERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE BEFORE ENDING. DRIER AND COOLER CONDITIONS WILL RETURN FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD. .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. 44/51
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:31 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An off duty state trooper reported rapidly rising water along the Little Missouri River and was starting to overflow it's banks. Evacuations of several homes along the river had occurred.
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, January 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: 549600.