Heavy rainfall caused flooding of rivers in parts of east and central Arkansas 8/15-17/16.
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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.
Heavy rainfall caused flooding of rivers in parts of east and central Arkansas 8/15-17/16.
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 Aug 15, 5:17 AM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Little Rock AR 617 AM CDT MON AUG 15 2016 .AVIATION... Light rain...fog...and low clouds will be the rule through the period. Radar shows a plume of rain continuing to run from AFD...to near LIT...to near Hardy. Conditions will be better at HRO but the rest of the area will have MVFR to LIFR conditions through the period. && .PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 436 AM CDT MON AUG 15 2016 ) SHORT TERM...Today Through Tuesday Night The pattern remains unsettled in the near term, but at least the concern for flooding is not as high. Heavy to excessive rain will shift to the northeast toward the Ohio Valley today, with mainly light/moderate rain around here. While there will likely be some heavy downpours, amounts will not be high enough to trigger widespread high water problems. Given the scenario, the Flash Flood Watch for northern Arkansas has been cancelled. The trend the next couple of days will be for good chances of showers/isolated thunderstorms, with precipitation gradually shifting into the southeast half of the state. There may even be some clearing in the northwest at times. Some one to two inch amounts are in the forecast across the southern/eastern counties, with lesser amounts farther northwest. Temperatures will remain well below average, with afternoon readings in the 70s/80s. With some clearing/drying in the northwest, lows could actually get in the lower 60s tonight/Tuesday night. LONG TERM...Wednesday Through Sunday High pressure will be over the southeast U.S. to begin the long term period with an upper trough over the Great Lakes and Midwest. An upper ridge will also be over the Rockies. This pattern will continue until Friday. An upper trough then dives into the plains late Friday into Saturday and moves to the east coast Sunday. Surface high pressure will also be over the southeast U.S. Wednesday and the plume of moisture will continue to stream over Arkansas on the back side of the high. Good rain chances will continue through Friday. On Saturday...a cold front moves into northwest Arkansas and will bring another round of showers and thunderstorms. As the front moves out of the state Sunday...rain chances will tremendously diminish. Temperatures will be below normal through the period with highs mainly in the 80s. && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. && Aviation...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT MON AUG 15 2016 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-161000- BOONE-MARION-BAXTER-FULTON-SHARP-NEWTON-SEARCY-STONE-IZARD- INDEPENDENCE-JOHNSON-POPE-VAN BUREN-CLEBURNE-JACKSON-LOGAN-CONWAY- FAULKNER-WHITE-WOODRUFF-SCOTT-YELL-PERRY-POLK-MONTGOMERY-GARLAND- SALINE-PULASKI-LONOKE-PRAIRIE-MONROE-PIKE-CLARK-HOT SPRING-GRANT- JEFFERSON-ARKANSAS-DALLAS-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-DESHA-OUACHITA-CALHOUN- BRADLEY-DREW- 500 AM CDT MON AUG 15 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT GOOD CHANCES FOR RAIN WILL CONTINUE TODAY...AND THERE MAY BE AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO. RAIN WILL TEND TO SHIFT INTO THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF ARKANSAS TONIGHT...WITH SOME DRYING FARTHER NORTHWEST. RAINFALL THROUGH TONIGHT WILL AVERAGE A HALF INCH TO AN INCH ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN COUNTIES...WITH A TENTH TO A HALF INCH IN THE NORTH AND WEST. ANY FLASH FLOODING SHOULD BE LOCALIZED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SHOWERS WILL REMAIN LIKELY IN THE UPCOMING WEEK...WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE AS THE PATTERN REMAINS UNSETTLED. SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE IN PLACES...AND DATA IS SUGGESTING THE BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL SHIFT INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. RAIN WILL BE SPREAD OUT OVER SEVERAL DAYS...SO WIDESPREAD FLASH FLOOD ISSUES ARE NOT EXPECTED. RIVERS WILL BE ON THE RISE ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION...AND WATER LEVELS WILL LIKELY EXCEED FLOOD STAGES ON SOME TRIBUTARIES. THE ELEVEN POINT...SPRING...AND BLACK RIVERS WILL BE AFFECTED INITIALLY...BUT OTHER RIVERS SUCH AS THE LOWER WHITE AND CACHE WILL EXPERIENCE RISES AS THE WEEK PROGRESSES. A FEW STORMS WITH STRONG TO DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE...BUT ANY SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD BE ISOLATED AT MOST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LZK. 46
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rainfall caused flooding on the Saline River 8/15-16/16.
COCORAHS observer measured 6.14 inches of rain from 8/13 through the morning of 8/15.
Heavy rainfall caused flooding on the White River at Augusta 8/17/16 to 8/31/16.
Heavy rainfall caused flooding on the Cache River at Patterson 8/17/16 to 8/31/16.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, August 2016
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: 658445, 658444, 658446, 658447.