Heavy rainfall was across western Arkansas on 8/20/16.
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.
Heavy rainfall was across western Arkansas on 8/20/16.
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 20, 9:45 AM CST, 45 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated National Weather Service Little Rock AR 1045 AM CDT SAT AUG 20 2016 .Discussion... Forecast has plenty of rain with isolated thunder today as the upper short wave system moves across initially, then later a cold front now over MO will move southeast through AR. Chance of rain forecast will remain high until these system move out of the region. Have seen a surge of rain and storms come into west-central AR and do have a current flash flood warning over Polk and Montgomery Counties. This area is moving east-northeast. Temperature trends are running a bit cooler and will adjust with late morning update. Otherwise, forecast will have the highest chance of rain over central AR, then as the front slides south...a good chance to start over much of the state, then trending down behind the front overnight into Sunday. (59) && .Prev Discussion.../ Issued 628 AM CDT SAT AUG 20 2016/ .AVIATION... Chances for SHRA/TSRA will remain fairly high through this afternoon and early evening...activity developing along and ahead of a cold front approaching from the northwest. Expect MVFR to as low as LIFR flight conditions...especially under the most intense activity. Winds will switch to the north and NW behind this front...with drier air moving into the state. As a result...expect improvements to VFR conditions for most sites by Sun morning. However...precip chances and reduced flight rules will still remain possible at the SRN terminals as the front will only be arriving near these locations by the end of this TAF period. && .PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 338 AM CDT SAT AUG 20 2016) SHORT TERM...Today Through Sunday Night Some SHRA with a few rumbles of thunder are moving NE through portions of central...NRN and NERN sections of the CWA early this Sat morning...with additional SHRA seen NW of the state along and ahead of an approaching cold front. This cold front will drop SE into the state by late this afternoon and into the evening hrs...with SHRA/TSRA remaining possible along and ahead of this front. Expect scattered to numerous convective activity through early this evening...but by late this evening into the overnight period...chances for precip will start to decrease from NW to SE as the front continues to progress SE through the CWA. By Sun morning...the cold front will be along or just south of the I- 40 corridor...with only some lingering precip chances expected along and south of this front. Drier air will filter into the state behind this front...with dewpts dropping into the 60s and even some 50s possible across far NRN AR. By late Sun afternoon and into Sun night...the best precip chances will have dropped south of the CWA...with the front near the AR/LA border. As a result...will have a dry forecast to end the short term period. Temps during the period will remain below normal...this Sat due to the rainfall and cloud cover...and on Sun as NRLY flow will be seen behind the cold front. LONG TERM...Monday Through Friday Sfc high pressure wl be shifting EWD away fm AR on Mon. This wl allow S/SELY winds to return to the region as the fcst pd progresses. Meanwhile...the stalled out fntl bndry just to the S of the FA wl sloly return NWD as a warm fnt thru Tue as a new upr lvl storm system moves into the SRN Plains States. As a result...clouds/rain chcs will incrs acrs AR as a WAA pattern commences over the region. The best rain chcs wl be acrs the NWRN half of the FA on Tue...closer to the track of the upr lvl impulse. Fcst rain amts do not appear overly excessive...but wl be monitored closely due to saturated soils over much of the state. The warm fnt is fcst to lift to the N of AR by WED...with warmer and more humid airmass bcmg entrenched acrs the area. A new fntl bndry wl apch AR fm the NW late in the pd. However...the bndry wl bcm nearly stationary as it encounters SWLY flow aloft. Sctd convection wl be possible...mainly ovr the NWRN part of the FA in the vcnty of the fnt. && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. && Aviation...62
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1015 AM CDT SAT AUG 20 2016 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-211000- 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- 1015 AM CDT SAT AUG 20 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT RAIN, SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH TONIGHT AS AN UPPER SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT MOVE INTO AND THROUGH THE STATE. THE MAIN AREA OF RAIN AND STORMS WILL BE CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF ARKANSAS. THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN LOW...BUT AN ISOLATED STRONG STORM MAY BE SEEN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW AN INCH FOR MOST AREAS...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AND VERY ISOLATED HIGHER AMOUNTS COULD BE SEEN WITH THE STRONG STORMS AND IF THEY SLOW IN THE FORWARD SPEED. THIS WOULD BRING THE THREAT OF FLOODING AND FLASH FLOODING TO PARTS OF THE STATE. TONIGHT THE COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE MUCH OF THE RAIN TO SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. SOME RIVER FLOODING IS ONGOING OR EXPECTED AS A RESULT OF RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL. THE WHITE RIVER AT AUGUSTA AND CACHE RIVER AT PATTERSON WILL CONTINUE TO SEE FLOODING...WITH CRESTS AT AUGUSTA EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN THE MINOR FLOOD CATEGORY. THE CACHE RIVER MAY RISE TO THE MODERATE FLOOD CATEGORY BY SUNDAY. THE OUACHITA RIVER IS FORECAST TO REACH FLOOD STAGE AT THATCHER LOCK AND DAM THIS WEEKEND. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY RAIN WILL STILL BE SEEN OVER PARTS OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS IN THE MORNING, THEN DRIER WEATHER WILL GRADUALLY TAKE OVER ON SUNDAY AND INTO MONDAY AS DRIER AIR MOVES INTO THE REGION BEHIND THE AFOREMENTIONED COLD FRONT. HOWEVER...RAIN CHANCES WILL RETURN TO THE FORECAST BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN LOW THROUGH THE REST OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED...BUT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER AND FLOODING ARE REQUESTED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LZK. 62/59
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:32 UTC.
4 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous county roads are flooded due to rapidly rising creeks and impassable low water crossings.
Numerous highways and county roads are impassable around Mt. Ida and Oden due to rapidly rising creeks and washed out culverts.
Several county roads are impassable due to rapidly rising creeks near Langley.
A few roadways are impassable due to culvert washouts and landslides.
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: 656831, 656832, 656833, 656834.