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| Storm Reports |
| Are you interested in what happened during a recent event? Check out the
report below. |
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March 2008 Storm Report |
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| Short Weather Summary |
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| Record rainfall was noted in
northern and western Arkansas in March. This led to widespread
flooding...especially along the Buffalo, Spring, Black and White Rivers.
The flooding followed two snowstorms at the beginning of the month that
were just days apart. There was also some severe weather, with a lot of
hail and isolated tornadoes toward the middle of the month. |
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| There were no record high or low temperatures
tied or broken in March. |
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Widespread heavy rain occurred fell across northern and
western Arkansas on the 17th through the 19th. Four to more than eight
inches of rain was common. |
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In the picture: Twenty four hour rainfall through 7 am
CDT on 03/19/2008. |
| Very serious flash flooding occurred in the north and
west, with several highways closed and roads washed out. On the morning of
the 19th, people stranded by high water were rescued by helicopter between
Flippin (Marion County) and Fairview (Marion County). Near Timbo (Stone
County), a man was missing after his vehicle was swept off the road by
flood waters. His body was found downstream several days later (on the
22nd). Another man was missing near West Fork (Washington County) after he
tried to drive through a low water crossing. |
| Eventually, the water made its way into area
tributaries...with major flooding along the Buffalo, Spring, Black and
White Rivers. Peak water levels at most forecast points along these
rivers were in the Top 10 highest crests on record. |
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| In the
picture: North of Newport (Jackson County), the winding Black River
flooded surrounding farmland on 03/27/2008. Click to enlarge. |
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Crests Along the Buffalo, Spring, Black and White Rivers |
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Location |
River |
Crest (ft) |
Flood Stage (ft) |
Date/Time |
Rank |
| St. Joe (Izard Co) |
Buffalo |
49.41 |
27 |
03/19 (8 am CDT) |
3 |
| Hardy (Sharp Co) |
Spring |
22.29 |
10 |
03/19 (730 am CDT) |
1 |
| Calico Rock (Izard Co) |
White |
39.64 |
19 |
03/20 (1215 am CDT) |
NA |
| Batesville
(Independence Co) |
White |
27.00 |
15 |
03/20 (9 am CDT) |
8T |
| Corning (Clay Co) |
Black |
15.92 |
15 |
03/22 (6 am CDT) |
2 |
| Pocahontas (Randolph Co) |
Black |
26.52 |
17 |
03/22 (6 pm CDT) |
2 |
| Black Rock (Lawrence Co) |
Black |
29.71 |
14 |
03/20 (3 am CDT) |
4 |
| Newport (Jackson Co) |
White |
33.98 |
26 |
03/21 (12 pm CDT) |
6 |
| Augusta (Woodruff Co) |
White |
38.41 |
26 |
03/22 (9 pm CDT) |
4 |
| Georgetown (White Co) |
White |
30.18 |
21 |
03/24 (6 am CDT) |
7 |
| Des Arc (Prairie Co) |
White |
33.74 |
24 |
03/25 (11 pm CDT) |
4 |
| Clarendon (Monroe Co) |
White |
33.04 |
26 |
03/29 (3 pm CDT) |
5 |
| Note: "NA"
is not in the Top 10 crests. "T" is tied. |
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Before the flooding, it was cold to start the month. One
snowstorm arrived on the 4th, with six to twelve inch totals in the
northern and western counties. |
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In the picture: Snowfall on March 6-7, 2008. Round one
(blue colors) affected northern and western Arkansas, with round two
(yellow lines) in the south and east. |
| Yet another system arrived just a couple of days later.
On the 6th/early on the 7th, four to eight inches of additional snow
blanketed the north and west...with locally over a foot. |
| Around Fox (Stone County), 18 inches of snow was
reported, with 14 inches on Dodd Mountain near Mountain View (Stone
County), 13 inches at Vendor (Newton County), and up to 12 inches around
Dennard (Van Buren County) and Deer (Newton County). |
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| In the
picture: Heavy snow blanketed the Oakland (Marion County) area on
03/07/2008. The picture is courtesy of Gene
Duckworth. Click to enlarge. |
| Later in the day, another piece of the system dumped two
to six inches of snow in southeast Arkansas. White Hall (Jefferson County)
had 7 inches of snow, with 6 inches at Brinkley (Monroe County) and
Monticello (Drew County). Before all of the snow began, there was a
period of heavy rain. Once all of this water went into the soil, the
ground became saturated. When the flood event of the 17th through the 19th
unfolded, there was nowhere for water to go. High water was inevitable. |
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Severe Weather
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One of the severe weather highlights in March
occurred during the early morning hours of the 14th. A tornado (rated EF2)
tracked through Cleveland County (southern Arkansas), downing trees and
damaging or destroying several chicken houses.
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In the picture: A tornado (rated EF2) tracked through
Cleveland County early on 03/14/2008. |
| Another weak (EF1) tornado was spawned a few miles east
of Cherry Hill (Polk County) in western Arkansas during the evening of the
17th. The tornado tore the roof from an addition to a home. Otherwise, a
hail event took place during the evening of the 13th from west central
into central sections of the state. Penny to quarter size hail was common.
In some cases, there was so much hail that it covered the ground and
looked like snow. There was golfball size hail at Mena (Polk County), with
quarter size hail at Hot Springs (Garland County) and near Mablevale
(Pulaski County).
Another rather large hail episode occurred late on the 14th/early on
the 15th, and affected mainly the central third of the state. |
| Additional March Details |
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| For more details about
March, 2008...go to the "Temperatures and Precipitation"
section below. |
| Temperatures and Precipitation |
| Temperatures were all over the
place in March, but ended up close to normal. Readings at Little Rock are
shown to right. |
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Rainfall was above to well above normal in northern
Arkansas, and below normal in the south. Amounts at Little Rock are shown to
left. |
| To right, a look at precipitation across the state. |
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| For a look at actual temperatures and precipitation
in Arkansas as measured by the cooperative observer network, click
here. |
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www.weather.gov
