Extreme Cold in Arkansas, December 31, 2017

Name: Extreme Cold in Arkansas, December 31, 2017
Start: 2017-12-31T10:30
End: 2017-12-31T10:30
Location: Arkansas

December 31, 2017 · NWS TSA · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong cold front moved through eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas on the 30th. An arctic air mass spread southward into the region behind the front through the 31st.

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

A strong cold front moved through eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas on the 30th. An arctic air mass spread southward into the region behind the front through the 31st. Temperatures in west central Arkansas were in the mid 20s during the morning hours of the 31st. This cold air combined with northerly wind of 10 to 15 mph resulted in wind chill values around 10 degrees. A 48 year old man was found dead outside a business in Fort Smith during the morning of the 31st. The medical examiner's office ruled that this death was due to extreme hypothermia due to exposure to the elements.

What forecasters said that day

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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 31, 5:24 AM CST, 5 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 5:24 AM CST, 5 hours 6 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 31, 4:51 AM CST, 5 hours 39 minutes before

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Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sebastian

When: December 31, 10:30 AM CST
Where: Sebastian forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: Broadcast Media

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Sebastian	2017-12-31	48	Male	Outside/Open Areas	Direct

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 2017 Every state in 2017 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, December 2017

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 726411.