Heavy rain brought flooding to several rivers in early May. It was all about the rain in May.
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 rain brought flooding to several rivers in early May. It was all about the rain in May. High moisture levels yielded heavy downpours and wet conditions from western into central Arkansas. Showers were not as appreciable along the Mississippi River due to a ridge of high pressure to the east.
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 Apr 30, 11:39 PM CST, 21 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Little Rock AR 1239 AM CDT Sat May 1 2021 .AVIATION...01/06Z TAF CYCLE VFR conds are expected thru the PD. Clouds wl cont to incrs fm the S. The Srn parts of the FA could see some MVFR CIGS aft 02/00Z, but lower conds appears more likely just beyond this fcst PD. Light winds thru daybreak wl incrs fm the S/SE durg the day on Sat. /44/ && .PREV DISCUSSION...(ISSUED 207 PM CDT Fri Apr 30 2021) SHORT TERM...Tonight Through Sunday Relatively minor changes to the forecast with the main story being the storm system approaching the state from the SW on Sunday. Currently there is a stationary front located across Louisiana resulting in some lingering showers across northern Louisiana and extreme southern Arkansas. Did see some showers in our CWA earlier, however those have all weakened and moved to the south. Through the remainder of the afternoon and evening will see high clouds increase from the south. Mostly dry weather will continue on Saturday with temperatures slightly above normal with readings in the upper 70's to lower 80's. Did slow the timing down on the onset of precipitation and did not introduce POPs until after 00z Sunday. A nearly closed negatively tilted upper level low will move towards the state Sunday morning and bring a low end chance of severe weather to the state. SB CAPE will be best across SW portions of the state during the first half of the day with the greatest wind energy across SE portions of the state. This could result in somewhat of a diminished sweet spot for severe storms across portions of southern Arkansas. Continue to believe that the first half of the day timing of this system will keep the severe weather chances somewhat limited. Showers and thunderstorms will continue to be ongoing as we head into the long term. LONG TERM...Sunday Night Through Thursday Long term PD wl begin w/ perturbed zonal H500 flow extending across the CONUS, w/ a modest shortwave trof lifting N/Ewrd over the Cntrl MS River valley. Out west, another perturbation wl be digging S/wrd into the desert S/W and wl bring the next potential for significant wx to the FA. Early in the PD, PoPs over the FA wl be tapering off from W to E as the Ern upper trof moves out. However settled condns wl lkly not linger. Mon morning, a sfc low wl be located over Ern OK, w/ robust Srly flow in place across the Natural State. Low-lvl moisture wl be in abundance w/ fcst Td's approaching the mid-60s at most locations. Additionally, rampant WAA wl contribute to one of the warmest days in the state this year, w/ mid to upper 80s expected. Overall PoPs look to stay limited during the day Mon due to a lack of alignment on any forcing mechanisms. Rain chances are expected to increase into the overnight PD Mon/Tues as the sfc low moves E/wrd and the Wrn trof begins to overspread the Srn Cntrl US. A region of enhanced sfc convergence may develop from S/W to N/E across the state, where widespread rain and thunderstorm activity is anticipated. Despite the nocturnal timing of forcing mechanisms, overnight buoyancy progs remain elevated w/ MLCAPE values ~2000 J/kg across the region. W/ this in mind, SPC has captured portions of W and N/W AR in a D4 risk area, where a nocturnal thunderstorm complex may develop and move across the region into Tues morning. Overall details remain unclear as far as the magnitude of severe potential, but for now, it remains nonzero and bears watching in successive fcst cycles. In addition to severe Tstorm potential, QPF guidance remains elevated during this time PD as well, however the good news is, it should fall over less vulnerable and primed areas, e.g. S/Ern AR, w/ rainfall accumulations of one to two more additional inches possible through Tues night. Wed through the remainder of the PD...PoPs wl taper off as sfc high pressure sags S/wrd and Nrly winds/mid-lvl subsidence promoted settled conditions. This pattern wl prevail through the remainder of the fcst PD as Rocky Mtn H500 ridging builds in, w/ more seasonable temperatures settling in and drier air filtering across the state w/ light but persisting Nrly winds. && .LZK Watches/Warnings/Advisories...NONE. &&
Hazardous Weather Outlook...UPDATED National Weather Service Little Rock AR 215 PM CDT Fri Apr 30 2021 ARZ003>008-012>017-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011915- Boone-Marion-Baxter-Fulton-Sharp-Randolph-Newton-Searcy-Stone- Izard-Independence-Lawrence-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- 215 PM CDT Fri Apr 30 2021 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for a Large Part of Arkansas. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Rivers are elevated across much of Arkansas following heavy to excessive rain Wednesday into Thursday. Minor to moderate flooding is occurring or expected along portions of the Arkansas, Black, Cache, Eleven Point, Ouachita, Spring, and lower White Rivers. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday Through Thursday Thunderstorms are in the forecast this weekend through the middle of next week. At this time, it appears that severe weather will be spotty. However, there will be heavy rain, especially over southern and eastern sections of the state. Several inches of rain could occur, and this may cause additional flash flooding and aggravate existing flood issues along area rivers. .Spotter Information Statement... Spotter activation will not be needed. && Visit NWS Little Rock on the web. Go to https://weather.gov/lzk.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
12 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the Arkansas River at Morrilton.
Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the Fourche LaFave River at Houston.
Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the Black River at Black Rock.
Flooding continue into the beginning of May on the Black River at Pocahontas.
Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the White River at Batesville.
Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the White River at Augusta.
Flooding continued into the beginning of May on the Cache River at Patterson.
Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Newport on May 1, 2021.
Heavy rain brought flooding to the Ouachita River at Camden on May 2, 2021.
Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Clarendon on May 2, 2021.
Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Augusta on May 4, 2021.
Heavy rain brought flooding to the White River at Des Arc on May 5, 2021.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, May 2021
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: 961619, 961621, 961622, 961624, 961628, 961647, 961660, 961633, 961614, 961653, 961641, 961650.