Given all of the rain, flooding was almost non-existent locally. That changed on the 15th.
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.
Given all of the rain, flooding was almost non-existent locally. That changed on the 15th. The front had lifted a bit to the north by this time, and was draped across central Arkansas. Before dawn, a large cluster of thunderstorms hit areas along and north of the Arkansas River, mainly north and west of Little Rock (Pulaski County). At least two dozen reporting sites registered four inches of rain or more.
By 700 am CDT, a whopping 7.20 inches was reported at Damascus (Van Buren County)! That is two months of rain in just a few hours. Elsewhere, an impressive 5.95 inches of rain poured on Center Ridge (Conway County), with 4.90 inches at Ozark (Franklin County), 4.75 inches at Hattieville (Conway County), 4.10 inches at Conway (Faulkner County), and 4.08 inches at Coal Hill (Johnson County).|A subdivision flooded and cars were under water at Clarksville (Johnson County). It was the same story at Russellville (Pope County), and it looked like a lake near Arkansas State University. Roads were blocked off in Enola (Faulkner County) as water flowed over the pavement.
After dark on the 15th, isolated storms in the far north/west flooded Highway 59 near Natural Dam (Crawford County). There was a quick two to three inches of rain from Mountain Home to Gamaliel (both in Baxter County).
We went from flooding to severe weather on the 18th, mainly from northwest into central Arkansas. Ten miles southwest of Harrison (Boone County), a barn was destroyed by damaging straight-line winds. Trees and power lines were blown down just northeast of Subiaco (Logan County) on Highways 197 and 288, and also along Highway 22 at Midway (Logan County). Trees were toppled along Highway 27 at Havana (Yell County).
Isolated storms redeveloped on the 19th, mainly across the north. One storm produced quarter size hail at Rodney (Baxter County).
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, 2:41 AM CST, 2 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Little Rock AR 341 AM CDT Tue Aug 15 2017 .DISCUSSION... Main concerns in this forecast cycle remain the chance of rain each day, and consequently a temperature forecast. The overall threat of strong to severe storms will remain quite low and isolated. Heavy rain with a risk of flooding will be possible. Currently an area of convection was moving northeast over western AR, and will continue to move northeast this morning. Some heavy rain will be seen, while the risk of any other severe weather will be low. This is associated with the weak frontal boundary over AR, and as an upper level weather system moves through the region. The upper zonal flow continues over the region, and short range models do show some upper lift currently moving across AR and developing the convection. The weak frontal boundary also remains nearly stationary over northwest to northeast AR. Areas of patchy fog, dense in a few spots, was also noted. && .SHORT TERM...Today Through Wednesday Night Forecast will start with the highest POP over western to northern AR with likely, while a chance over much of the rest of AR. The frontal boundary is expected to drift a bit more north, while the upper shortwave energy moves through AR today. A lowering of POP is forecast for the afternoon, from west to east. Tuesday night will see a much lower chance of rain with the boundary expected to be north of AR, and much less upper shortwave energy seen in the models. Wednesday will continue the trend of lowering POP. The upper high pressure ridge builds in over the region, especially in eastern AR. The best chances of convection will be over western to northwest with some weak shortwave energy. Wednesday night, a bit more upper energy is seen in the models, and POP chances are higher in northwest AR. Also, the threat for severe storms will remain low, while heavy rain with some localized flooding will be the main threat. Finally, temperatures will again start below normal levels today, then warm a bit closer to normal values on Wednesday. && .LONG TERM...Thursday Through Monday The long term will remain unsettled as a quasi-zonal flow pattern continues over the northern half of the continental United States. A shortwave trough will pass by to the north of Arkansas on Thursday, followed by another on Saturday. This will keep a frontal boundary situated near, or perhaps just in, the northern part of the state through the period essentially. Meanwhile, high pressure to the south of the state will keep a return flow pattern in place as well. All of this means that warm, though likely just below normal, and humid conditions will stick around through the period. Additionally, this setup will also mean chances of showers and thunderstorms each day, with perhaps a more diurnal trend to precip chances late in the weekend after the second upper trough moves east and upper heights build just a tad over the region. && .Solar eclipse thoughts... Now that August 21st, the day of the much talked about total solar eclipse, is in the realm of our 7 day forecast I thought it may be useful to offer up some initial thoughts about cloud cover, etc. First off, this is still 6 days away, so this will just be a general overview. Details, too uncertain at this time to speak to, will ultimately determine what kind of viewing experience Arkansans have. Now that the disclaimer is done with, let's move on. What seems relatively clear, is that models are keying in on some sort of upper trough near the west coast Sunday night into Monday, with otherwise active and zonal upper flow across the northern half of the United States on Monday. Other seemingly agreed upon large scale pattern features are the presence of upper high pressure over the far southeast, in the NE Gulf of Mexico or Florida Panhandle. This would yield southerly flow into Arkansas at the surface. As mentioned, the details make all the difference in the world. Those are hardly agreed upon at this time. The GFS model is much more pessimistic with regard to clouds and rain chances. The ECMWF, to offer a little hope, is much less pessimistic. Will it be cloudy and rainy? Time will tell, which is why I would encourage you to continue monitoring forecasts in the coming days and not necessarily alter any viewing plans you have just yet. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Batesville AR 85 74 91 75 / 60 20 20 20 Camden AR 90 76 93 76 / 30 0 10 10 Harrison AR 85 72 89 73 / 60 20 30 50 Hot Springs AR 85 76 91 76 / 40 10 10 10 Little Rock AR 85 75 91 77 / 50 10 10 10 Monticello AR 89 76 92 76 / 30 10 10 0 Mount Ida AR 85 75 90 74 / 40 0 10 20 Mountain Home AR 86 72 90 73 / 60 20 20 50 Newport AR 85 75 90 75 / 60 20 20 10 Pine Bluff AR 87 75 92 77 / 40 10 10 10 Russellville AR 84 75 92 75 / 60 10 10 30 Searcy AR 85 74 92 75 / 60 20 20 10 Stuttgart AR 85 75 92 76 / 50 10 20 10 && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. && Short Term...59 / Long Term...64
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Little Rock AR 500 AM CDT Tue Aug 15 2017 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 Tue Aug 15 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for a Large Part of Arkansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible today, especially over the northern half of Arkansas. Only an isolated strong to severe storm will be possible, with strong gusty winds the primary threat. Also, stronger storms will be capable of producing heavy rainfall, which could lead to localized flooding. Additional, patchy fog will develop, dense in spots, early this morning and again tonight, especially in those areas that see rain. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday Through Monday Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected each day, especially in the afternoon to evening. Through the period, the overall severe storm threat will be low and isolated. Any stronger storm will possibly produce strong gusty winds, small hail and heavy downpours. The heavy rain could lead to localized flash flooding. .Spotter Information Statement... Spotter activation is not anticipated today or tonight. && Visit NWS Little Rock on the web. Go to http://weather.gov/lzk. 59/64
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Little Rock AR
436 AM CDT TUE AUG 15 2017
ARZ004-005-012>014-021>024-030>033-151030-
Pope AR-Stone AR-Van Buren AR-Cleburne AR-Baxter AR-Marion AR-
Searcy AR-White AR-Johnson AR-Newton AR-Logan AR-Faulkner AR-
Conway AR-
436 AM CDT TUE AUG 15 2017
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR JOHNSON...SEARCY...VAN BUREN...
SOUTH CENTRAL BAXTER...NORTHEASTERN YELL...POPE...WESTERN STONE...
NORTHEASTERN LOGAN...SOUTHEASTERN NEWTON...SOUTHEASTERN MARION...
WESTERN CLEBURNE...NORTHEASTERN CONWAY...NORTHEASTERN FAULKNER AND
WEST CENTRAL WHITE COUNTIES UNTIL 530 AM CDT...
At 433 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking an area of strong
thunderstorms over Johnson county, with the strongest near Holman,
or 14 miles east of Clarksville, moving northeast at 40 mph.
The storms will produce very heavy rain which could lead to
localized flooding and ponding of water on roadways. Also small hail
and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with these storms.
Locations impacted include...
Russellville... Clarksville...
Heber Springs... Paris...
Clinton... Fairfield Bay...
Marshall... Dardanelle...
Lamar... Dover...
London... Greers Ferry...
Magazine... Quitman...
Knoxville... Guy...
Subiaco... Hartman...
Rose Bud... Hector...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Very heavy rainfall is also occurring with these storms, and may
lead to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through
flooded roadways.
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with these storms.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.
&&
LAT...LON 3532 9186 3530 9291 3525 9318 3528 9324
3532 9327 3524 9328 3513 9388 3574 9346
3614 9235
TIME...MOT...LOC 0933Z 240DEG 49KT 3552 9322
59Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Little Rock AR
528 AM CDT TUE AUG 15 2017
ARZ021>023-030-031-038-151130-
Pope AR-Johnson AR-Van Buren AR-Logan AR-Yell AR-Conway AR-
528 AM CDT TUE AUG 15 2017
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR CENTRAL LOGAN...SOUTHERN
JOHNSON...WESTERN VAN BUREN...NORTH CENTRAL CONWAY...NORTH CENTRAL
YELL AND POPE COUNTIES UNTIL 630 AM CDT...
At 526 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking an area of strong
thunderstorms over Johnson and northern Logan, with the strongest
near Subiaco, or 7 miles northeast of Paris, moving east at 40 mph.
The storms will produce very heavy rain which could lead to
localized flooding and ponding of water on roadways. Also small hail
and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with these storms.
Locations impacted include...
Russellville... Clarksville...
Paris... Dardanelle...
Atkins... Pottsville...
Lamar... Dover...
London... Knoxville...
Subiaco... Hartman...
Hector... Scranton...
Lake Dardanelle State Park... Happy Bend...
Dabney... Hattieville...
Hoyt... Jerusalem...
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm, and may lead
to localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.
Frequent cloud to ground lightning is occurring with this storm.
Lightning can strike 10 miles away from a thunderstorm. Seek a safe
shelter inside a building or vehicle.
&&
LAT...LON 3532 9385 3531 9381 3536 9381 3539 9379
3536 9375 3538 9371 3545 9371 3551 9369
3571 9263 3533 9263 3512 9336 3522 9393
TIME...MOT...LOC 1026Z 255DEG 35KT 3537 9364
59The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:20 UTC.
6 flash flood, 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
We received reports of cars underwater at East Cherry Street and Millwood Road on the east side of Clarksville.
Street flooding was reported and cars were underwater in Russellville on Arkansas Tech University campus.
The 24 hour total was 7.20 inches...although nearly all of the rain fell in the previous 3-4 hours.
Numerous roads around Damascus were underwater. Highway 65 was nearly covered in water as well.
Several roads had to be blocked off due to water rushing over them.
Several roads had to be blocked off due to water rushing across them.
Reports were received of a barn and power poles being blown down.
NWS Cooperative Observer reports at least one tree blew over in their yard and estimated winds around 60 mph.
Trees and power lines were reported down across Cottonwood Road.
Trees and power lines were reported down and blocking Highway 288 and Highway 197.
Trees and power lines were reported down on Highway 22 in Midway.
Trees were down on Highway 27.
The intersection of Kiehl and Brockington Roads was reported as flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, August 2017
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: 717565, 717567, 717541, 717570, 717545, 717547, 717572, 717573, 717574, 717576, 717577, 717578, 717581, 717579.