National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

During the first two weeks of August, large clusters of thunderstorms repeatedly formed in the central Plains and tracked toward Arkansas. Precipitable water, or water vapor contained in a vertical column of the atmosphere, was more abundant than usual. Values were occasionally over 2 inches, and are usually between 1.25 and 1.75 inches this time of year. This made storms more efficient rainmakers.

St. Paul (Madison County) racked up 9.58 inches, with 8.43 inches at Omaha (Boone County),  8.06 inches at Calico Rock (Izard County) and 7.79 inches at Mammoth Spring (Fulton County). These higher totals were more than six times what is considered normal.

Drought conditions quickly vanished in the north. Dry pastures were replaced by areas of high water. On the 3rd, flash flooding was reported in Pea Ridge and Rogers (both in Benton County). Some motorists were stranded and had to be rescued.

By the 8th, Highway 7 was under four feet of water on the west side of Harrison (Boone County). Highway 65 was blocked off in town due to flooding. Not far from Omaha (Boone County), Bear Creek rose 18 feet and covered Highway 14.

Late on the 8th/early on the 9th, a deluge (3.86 inches in two hours) at Searcy (White County) caused extensive street flooding. Numerous roads were barricaded.

Early on the 10th, low water crossings near Pyatt (Marion County) had more than a foot of water over them. Some roads in Bergman (Boone County) looked more like rivers. A bridge near Pineville (Izard County) was seriously damaged, with two foot bridges washed away by an overflowing creek at a park in Calico Rock (Izard County).

On the 12th/13th, a cold front swept across the region from the north and was followed by much drier air. During the second half of the month, Omaha (Boone County) had no more precipitation. There was no additional rain at Calico Rock (Izard County) or Melbourne (Izard County) either. Mountain Home (Baxter County) tacked on only 0.10 inch. Even so, it was a Top 5 record wet August at these sites.

As it dried out, it was cool at first. On the 16th, high temperatures were only in the 70s to lower 80s. Daily cool high temperature records were set at Little Rock (Pulaski County) and North Little Rock (Pulaski County) with readings of 75 and 73 degrees respectively. Texarkana (Miller County) had 79 degrees, which tied a record low high.

From the 28th through the 31st, temperatures were well into the 90s to around 100 degrees locally. Factoring in the humidity, afternoon heat index values maxed out between 100 and 105 degrees in most areas.

It was at least 100 degrees at Texarkana (Miller County) each day. One of the warmest readings during this four day stretch was 103 degrees at Russellville (Pope County) on the 31st. On that day, more than 50 people had heat related medical issues at the Arkansas and Louisiana-Lafayette college football game at Fayetteville (Washington County). At least a dozen folks were taken to the hospital.

The heat did not help matters across the southern counties, and stressed already dry vegetation. The south did not get the rain that drenched the north earlier in the month. Camden (Ouachita County) tallied only 0.23 inch of rain in August, with 0.27 inch at Texarkana (Miller County), 0.37 inch at De Queen (Sevier County), 0.55 inch at Hope (Hempstead County) and 0.58 inch at Monticello (Drew County).

It was the fifth driest August on record at Camden (Ouachita County) and Texarkana (Miller County). Not surprisingly, much of the south had moderate to severe drought conditions heading into September.

There were two named storms in August. Tropical Storm Erin formed well out in the Atlantic toward the Cape Verde Islands on August 15th. The system never organized much, and only lasted a couple of days. Erin weakened to a Tropical Depression on the 17th.

Tropical Storm Fernando was not around that long either. The system developed in the Bay of Campeche (southern Gulf of Mexico) on the 25th. Fernando made landfall near Veracruz, Mexico early on the 26th.