Severe drought (D2) conditions persisted across southeast Arkansas through September. Moderate wildfire danger continued as abnormally dry and unseasonably warm conditions were present.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 MEG wrote it up.
Severe drought (D2) conditions persisted across southeast Arkansas through September. Moderate wildfire danger continued as abnormally dry and unseasonably warm conditions were present. Tropical Depression Helene was able to squash worsening conditions at the end of the month.
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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 10:41 PM CST, 1 hour 19 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Memphis TN 1141 PM CDT Sat Aug 31 2024 ...New AVIATION... .UPDATE... Issued at 943 PM CDT Sat Aug 31 2024 A rather quiet night across the Mid-South at this hour. The latest KNQA radar sweep shows diminishing showers and isolated thunderstorms over northeast Arkansas. Elsewhere, the majority of activity has already died off over the past hour. The latest surface analysis places a nearly stationary cold front right along the Tennessee and Kentucky border and extending northeast through Louisville, Kentucky and up into western Pennsylvania. This front is forecast to remain stalled near the border through the overnight hours before the main trough ejects into the Great Lakes Region and helps push the front southward tomorrow morning. Height falls look to remain weak and instability will also be less than the past few days, so strong to severe thunderstorms look unlikely at this point. The bulk of the activity will be in the form of scattered to numerous showers with isolated to scattered thunderstorms. Hi-res guidance suggests that activity will begin around sunrise and slowly move south throughout the day. The current forecast is on track with no major changes needed. A mostly dry night is on tap with 10 to 20 PoPs through the overnight period and likely PoPs in the morning and afternoon hours tomorrow. Temperatures will fall into lower 70s areawide with pockets of patchy fog. AC3 && .SYNOPSIS... Issued at 206 PM CDT Sat Aug 31 2024 A cold front will move through the region on Sunday with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms followed by a period of dry weather from Sunday night through Tuesday morning. A wet and cooler pattern will set up Tuesday night and continue through much of the week as a weak upper level disturbance interacts with tropical moisture across the region. && .DISCUSSION... (This evening through next Friday) Issued at 206 PM CDT Sat Aug 31 2024 Currently...the Mid-South is situated between a stalled front across southern MO and a tropical disturbance along the Gulf Coast. The airmass across the region is very moist with PW vales 2.0 to 2.4 inches. A subtle shortwave seems to be the cause of the persistent showers across West TN, south of I-40. Convection has ignited across north AL and Middle TN where there is less cloud cover. Clouds are beginning to thin across MS and development should start there soon with some spillover from NW AL likely as outflows from that activity push westward. Gusty winds, lightning and heavy downpours are the main threats this afternoon into the early evening. Do not see much impact from activity along the front across southern MO through the evening hours. Cannot rule out a few storms along the KY/MO state lines. Convection should diminish later this evening with loss of heating. The stalled front over MO will begin to edge south later tonight into Sunday as a weak, broad mid level trough pushes into the region. Given the moist and somewhat unstable airmass across the region expect scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms as the cold front pushes into region. A reinforcing cold front will sweep through Sunday night into Monday clearing the area of rain chances with a mostly dry period through Tuesday morning. A weak mid level trough moving out of the Southern Plains by midweek will pick up the tropical moisture leftover along the Gulf Coast. An inverted surface trough will set up from the Gulf northward through the Mid-South and PWs will average around the 97.5 percentile. There is some discrepancy about where the inverted trough develops and where the heaviest QPF axis will be located. However, the latest ensemble guidance looks generally wet late Tuesday night into a good part of Thursday with couple inches of rain possible areawide. Clouds and precip will result in much cooler temps with highs perhaps only around 80. Precip chances will start to diminish later in the week as the mid level trough axis and a cold front move through. Next weekend looks hopeful for good weather and mild temps. && .AVIATION... (06Z TAFS) Issued at 1140 PM CDT Sat Aug 31 2024 VFR conditions may deteriorate to MVFR and perhaps IFR conditions late tonight as patchy fog develops at most sites. Rain showers are expected to return towards sunrise as a cold front slowly begins to move into the Lower MS Valley. Best chances for thunderstorms still appears to be Sunday afternoon coinciding with peak heating/instability as the front moves through the region. Light winds expected Sunday evening with latest probabilistic guidance indicating a good potential for fog towards late Sunday night. && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...None. MO...None. MS...None. TN...None. && PUBLIC FORECAST...SJM AVIATION...CJC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe Drought (D2) Conditions persisted through the month of September.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, September 2024
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: 1215833.