Heavy rainfall induced flooding in southwest Arkansas on the Ouachita River 8/21/16.
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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 induced flooding in southwest Arkansas on the Ouachita River 8/21/16.
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 21, 2:31 AM CST, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Little Rock AR 331 AM CDT SUN AUG 21 2016 .SHORT TERM...Today Through Monday Night Some SHRA with the occasional TSRA is ongoing across central into ERN sections of AR...activity developing near a cold front that was progressing SE through the state. Behind this front...drier air is filtering into NRN and NWRN sections of AR...evident in dewpts dropping into the upper 50s to low 60s. This front will continue to drop south through the state through this evening...with rain chances continuing to drop from north to south. Most areas should see a dry forecast by this afternoon...with only far SRN sections of the state seeing lingering precip chances. Temps will remain below normal for this afternoon due to the NRLY SFC flow...even with less cloud cover expected. Highs will be in the upper 70s to upper 80s. Much cooler and less humid conditions will be seen tonight as the drier air continues to filter into the state. Lows by Mon morning will dip down into the upper 50s across NRN sections of the CWA...with mid 60s to around 70 elsewhere. Precip chances will remain low. The cold front will attempt to lift back north as a warm front on Mon into Mon night. Chances for rainfall will begin to return to the forecast Mon afternoon into Mon night...mainly limited to SWRN sections of the CWA. This warm front will struggle to lift too far NE through the short term period due to SFC high pressure to the NE. As a result...dry conditions will remain across the NERN half of the state. Temps will remain below normal for Mon afternoon as well. && .LONG TERM...Tuesday Through Saturday Sfc high pres wl be moving further to the E of AR as the start of the pd. The resulting S/SELY wind flow over the region wl cont to bring warmer and more humid air back in the FA. The assocd warm front that wl be lifting NWD...providing a focus for SCTD SHRA/TSRA Tue and early Tue Ngt. By the middle/latter part of week...high pres aloft wl be building back WWD toward the Mid-South. This wl result in lower rain chcs and temps returning to seasonal norms. Model data does suggest a new cold front wl apch fm the NW later in the pd. However...it appears the bndry wl may have a difficult time advancing SEWD as it encounters the upr rdg/SWLY flow aloft. Kept low chc pops in the fcst...with more of diurnal trend expected each day. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Batesville AR 82 61 84 66 / 10 0 0 20 Camden AR 86 69 87 72 / 40 10 30 20 Harrison AR 81 57 83 64 / 0 0 0 20 Hot Springs AR 85 66 85 71 / 10 10 20 20 Little Rock AR 85 65 85 70 / 10 0 10 20 Monticello AR 85 69 86 72 / 40 10 20 20 Mount Ida AR 84 63 83 70 / 10 10 20 30 Mountain Home AR 82 59 84 65 / 0 0 0 20 Newport AR 82 61 84 66 / 10 0 0 20 Pine Bluff AR 84 67 85 70 / 30 10 20 20 Russellville AR 85 62 85 69 / 10 0 10 20 Searcy AR 83 62 84 67 / 10 0 10 20 Stuttgart AR 83 65 85 69 / 20 0 10 20 && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. && Short Term...62 / Long Term...44
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 346 AM CDT SUN AUG 21 2016 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-221000- 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- 346 AM CDT SUN AUG 21 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT IS MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE STATE...WITH SOME LINGERING CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED ALONG AND AHEAD OF THIS FRONT. OTHER THAN SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...THE THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER SHOULD REMAIN LOW THROUGH TONIGHT. 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 TODAY. THE OUACHITA RIVER IS FORECAST TO RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE AT ARKADELPHIA AND THATCHER LOCK AND DAM INTO EARLY THIS WEEK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY OTHER THAN ONGOING RIVER FLOODING...THE OVERALL THREAT FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER WILL REMAIN LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LZK. 62/44
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rain caused flooding on the Ouachita River at Arkadelphia 8/21/16.
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: 658448.