On the 6th, the big area of high pressure cranking up the heat and keeping rain to a minimum wobbled westward toward the Rockies. This allowed a weak cold front to visit from the north and trigger scattered thunderstorms.
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.
On the 6th, the big area of high pressure cranking up the heat and keeping rain to a minimum wobbled westward toward the Rockies. This allowed a weak cold front to visit from the north and trigger scattered thunderstorms. Near Conway (Faulkner County), a severe storm unloaded quarter size hail. Trees were also pushed over, with one tree on a house and another blocking Highway 64.
Tragically, a 67-year-old man was struck by lightning in his yard at Russellville (Pope County) around 130 pm CDT. He was transported to a local hospital and eventually passed away. This was the second lightning fatality of 2018 in Arkansas (the first lightning death occurred on June 8th).
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 Jul 6, 11:48 AM CST, 42 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Little Rock AR 1248 PM CDT Fri Jul 6 2018 .AVIATION... It seems as if the pre-frontal trough has moved south of Arkansas and the cold front is entering north Arkansas at this time. Showers and thunderstorms are developing in the north and west. Expect this trend to continue with the storms moving to the south or southwest. Best rain chances will progresss from north to south through the afternoon, evening, and overnight hours. Expect also some low ceilings during Saturday morning. VFR and MVFR conditions are expected. && .PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 629 AM CDT Fri Jul 6 2018) AVIATION... VFR conditions will be prevailing through much of the period. Scattered thunderstorms are expected this afternoon as a front moves across, but these should largely diminish in the hours after sunset. Over the southern half of the area, mvfr stratocu will become prevalent by the end of the period, as the front hangs up. PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 219 AM CDT Fri Jul 6 2018) SHORT TERM...Today Through Saturday Night All quiet conditions are ongoing across the CWA early this Fri morning...but this should change by this afternoon as a cold front drops south into the state. This will bring increased chances for SHRA/TSRA to the state along this front. Have posted high end chance POPs for now...due to some uncertainty regarding overall coverage and placement of most widespread convection. While the overall threat for SVR Wx looks limited...a few storms could become strong...with maybe an isolated SVR storm possible. Expect damaging winds...large hail and locally heavy rainfall as the primary threats with the strongest storms. Temps will once again be warm...though just above normal for early July. Heat index values will be a bit lower than seen on Thu...with most areas seeing mid 90s to just over 100 for max afternoon heat index values. As a result...will hold off on another heat adv at this time. The aforementioned cold front will drop south of the state by late tonight...with the focus for precip shifting to only SRN sections of the state for Sat. Slightly cooler and drier conditions will then be seen for the NRN two-thirds of the state...with some areas seeing dewpts dropping into the 50s...especially across NRN sections of the state. This will bring some more comfortable conditions for at least a good portion of the CWA for Sat afternoon and night. Due to the drier air...temps by late Sat night will also be cool...potentially dropping into the 50s for some areas in the higher terrain of the Ozarks. LONG TERM...Sunday Through Thursday Through the period, it appears the position of the upper ridge will keep easterly or northeasterly upper flow over the region. Initially, at the surface, the remnants of a frontal boundary will be near southern Arkansas or northern Louisiana. The upper flow will send several impulses around the periphery of the ridge, which will interact with the front and its (eventual) remnants. The result will be a continued chance of showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures will be within a few degrees of average for this time of year. By mid-week next week, heat index values may become a concern again. However, at this time, daytime maxes look to be low enough to keep max heat indices below 105 degrees. && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. && Aviation...51
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Little Rock AR 304 AM CDT Fri Jul 6 2018 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-071000- 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- 304 AM CDT Fri Jul 6 2018 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for a Large Part of Arkansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Scattered thunderstorms will be possible late this morning through early this evening. While the overall threat for widespread or organized severe weather is low at this time...a few thunderstorms could become strong to severe. If thunderstorms do become severe...damaging winds and large hail will be the primary threats. Some locally heavy rainfall may also be seen with any thunderstorm. Heat index values this afternoon will warm into the mid 90s to just over 100 degrees for most locations. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday Through Thursday Scattered thunderstorms will be possible through next week. Though the over all threat for severe thunderstorms is low...a few storms could become strong during the afternoon and early evening hours. The strongest storms will be capable of producing heavy rainfall... which could cause localized flash flooding issues. Afternoon and early evening heat index values could approach or exceed 100 degrees by mid-week next week. .Spotter Information Statement... Spotter activation is not anticipated at this time. && Visit NWS Little Rock on the web. Go to http://weather.gov/lzk. 62/57
Special Weather Statement National Weather Service Little Rock AR 123 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2018 ARZ021-022-030-038-061900- Pope AR-Johnson AR-Yell AR-Logan AR- 123 PM CDT FRI JUL 6 2018 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN LOGAN...SOUTH CENTRAL JOHNSON...YELL AND SOUTHWESTERN POPE COUNTIES UNTIL 200 PM CDT... At 122 PM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near Mosley, or near Danville, moving southwest at 20 mph. Dime size hail and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with this storm. Locations impacted include... Russellville... Danville... Dardanelle... Pottsville... Ola... London... Blue Mountain... Stonehouse Recreation Area... Lake Dardanelle State Park... Mt Nebo State Park... Fourche Valley... Mount Magazine... Plainview in Yell County... Lake Dardanelle... Petit Jean River WMA... Mosley... Belleville... Havana... Corinth... Wing... PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 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 3508 9380 3538 9331 3528 9305 3479 9340 TIME...MOT...LOC 1822Z 043DEG 18KT 3514 9335 Cross
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:27 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 67 year old male was killed by a lightning strike. The man was outside working on his yard at the time of the strike. The time is estimated based on radar data, but there were storms near Russellville from 1 pm through 2 pm CDT.
A large tree was blown down and blocking Highway 64 north of Conway between Salem and Hogan.
Spotter estimated 60 mph winds.
Shingles were blown off a roof on west side of Conway.
Trees were reported down along Camp Tahkodah Rd. due to thunderstorm winds.
A wooden power pole was blown down on the west side of Russellville. With no other significant damage in the immediate area based on a picture from social media, estimated wind speeds were around 50 mph.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Pope | 2018-07-06 | 67 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, July 2018
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: 771715, 771718, 771719, 771720, 771721, 771722.