National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

The first three months of 2013 featured a heavy rain event, an ice storm and heavy snow. However, severe storms were few, with only six tornadoes (mostly weak) counted.

The severe weather season got kick started briefly on April 10th. Four tornadoes (rated EF1/EF2) were spawned, with the most significant of these tracking through Van Buren County. Wind gusts reached 90 to 100 mph at Horseshoe Bend (Izard County), and this caused extensive structural damage. Heavy rain continued into the morning of the 11th, with a few amounts over three inches in the southeast half of Arkansas.

Spring highlights included much below normal temperatures in March (by 3 to 6 degrees). Freezes in April were the latest since 1960 at Booneville (Logan County), and since 1963 at Batesville Lock and Dam (Independence County) and Harrison (Boone County). In early May (on the 3rd/4th), light snow fell in the northwest counties. There had not been any snow in the state this late in spring. The previous latest snow was on April 30, 1903. All-time May cold temperature records were also broken.

Up to this point, not only was severe weather absent in Arkansas, it was also quiet nationally. Across the country, the tornado count from May, 2012 through April, 2013 was the lowest on record since 1954. That all changed in late May, with numerous tornadoes spawned from the upper Midwest into the Plains.

One of the biggest events of the year happened on May 20th. A tornado widened rapidly just west of Moore, OK and tore through town. Neighborhoods were flattened and became unrecognizable. Winds swirling around the tornado (rated EF5) were estimated over 200 mph. At least 24 people were killed. It was perhaps the worst tornado disaster since the Joplin, MO tornado in May, 2011.

As May ended, there was an outbreak of severe weather locally. The central third of the state was affected by a total of 14 tornadoes on the 30th/31st, with a fatality at Tull (Grant County). There was another tornado in Madison County early on June 1st. Parts of Scott, Polk and Montgomery Counties received more than 10 inches of rain. Floods/flash floods claimed 6 lives.

There was enough rain through mid-June to stave off drought conditions in much of Arkansas. However, rain shut off late in the month and into July. Drought began spreading eastward through the area.

As the ground water supply dwindled, the sky opened. There were some ten to fifteen inch precipitation totals (and locally more) across the northern and western counties to finish July and begin August. Sites receiving this much rain included Harrison (Boone County), Mountain Home (Baxter County), Calico Rock (Izard County), Gilbert (Searcy County), Mena (Polk County), Waldron (Scott County) and Murfreesboro (Pike County). These amounts were 1st or 2nd highest all-time in the thirty day period ending at 700 am CDT on August 14th.

For the year, southern sections of the state suffered the most through September. Precipitation deficits in 2013 were five to more than seven inches at El Dorado (Union County) and Texarkana (Miller County). The south was in the throes of a drought heading into October.

Drought was an even bigger issue in the western United States during the summer, with numerous forest fires resulting. In Colorado, the Black Forest fire near Colorado Springs became the most destructive fire in state history. The fire consumed at least 509 homes as of June 20th.

Other heat/fire related stories for late June, 2013...

By August, huge fires raged in the west. The largest of these was the Rim fire in northern California (the Sierra Nevada Mountains). It became the most expansive fire (250,000+ acres) nationwide in 2013, and a top 5 largest wildfire in state history dating back to 1932. More than 5,000 firefighters battled the flames that spread into Yosemite National Park. The Beaver Creek fire in southern Idaho was triggered by lightning on August 9th. Almost 100,000 acres were torched by the 17th.

Meanwhile, it was very different story in parts of the east. Way too much rain fell in places like Asheville, NC, Atlanta, GA, Chattanooga, TN and Spartanburg, SC. There was a 15 to more than 25 inch rainfall surplus for the year at these locations through early September. Soggy fields led to rotting crops, with an agricultural disaster unfolding.

Speaking of rain, there was a lot of it in Boulder, CO on September 12th. An astonishing 9.08 inches of water collected in the rain bucket, which shattered the previous daily record of 4.80 inches set on July 31, 1919. Flooding devastated the local area and on northward toward Estes Park, CO. The Big Thompson River swelled, with a 10.55 foot crest at Drake, CO early on the 13th. This surpassed the 9.31 foot level established during an historic flood event on July 31, 1976. On that day, 143 people perished as a 20 foot wall of water tore through the Big Thompson Canyon.