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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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February 2009 Storm Report |
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| Short Weather Summary |
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| It was a mild February, and it felt like Spring at times. While there were thunderstorms, there were no tornadoes. It was unlike a year ago when tornadoes made an early appearance. This year, there were damaging winds with one event and hail with another. As a reminder that Winter had not ended, heavy snow arrived on the last day. |
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| There were no record temperatures tied or broken in February. |
| Severe Weather/Winter Weather |
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| After a massive ice storm hit to end January, the weather pattern changed and a warming trend took place to begin February. By the 8th, high temperatures were in the 60s and 70s. |
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On the 10th/early on the 11th, the atmosphere was primed for severe weather as a storm system approached from New Mexico. |
| In the picture: A line of storms brought strong to damaging winds to areas from Clinton (Van Buren County) to Conway (Faulkner County) at 200 am CST on 02/11/2009. |
| The system dragged a cold front into the state, with a line of fast moving thunderstorms along the front. Strong to damaging winds (60 to 80 mph) occurred with the line of storms, mainly north and west of Little Rock (Pulaski County).
Severe weather ended early on the 11th, but the system continued to intensify as it tracked into southern Missouri (moving toward the Ohio Valley). Surrounding the system, west to southwest winds increased to 25 to 35 mph...with gusts over 40 mph (especially in the eastern half of the state).
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| Highest Wind Gusts on February 11, 2009 |
| Site |
Direction/Speed (mph) |
Time (CST) |
| Jonesboro (Craighead County) |
SW 53 |
1241 pm |
| Newport (Jackson County) |
SW 48 |
1056 am |
| Little Rock (Pulaski County) |
SW 45 |
1031 am |
| Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) |
SW 43 |
1105 am |
| It cooled down behind the front during mid-February. A weak system aloft spread light precipitation into the state early on the 15th. Toward the Missouri border, it was just cold enough for some light snow, and one to two inch accumulations.
The snow did not last as temperatures warmed to above normal levels in the days to follow. By the 25th and 26th, afternoon readings were back in the 60s and 70s.
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| A cold front approached Arkansas from the northwest on the 26th. Thunderstorms developed in Missouri and built into Arkansas during the late afternoon. |
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| In the picture: The pattern at 12 pm CST on 02/27/2009. A front was stalled across southern Arkansas, with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms around the front. |
| Severe storms developed along or near the Arkansas River and produced large hail from western into central sections of the state. Up to golfball size hail occurred at Shannon Hills (Saline County), southwest Little Rock (Pulaski County) and Blakemore (Lonoke County), with half dollar size hail around Clarksville (Johnson County) and nickel size hail Briggsville (Yell County) and Hattieville (Conway County).
During the morning of the 27th, the front stalled across southern Arkansas. Scattered thunderstorms continued along the front in the southern counties, with more hail reported. There was golfball size hail at Kingsland (Cleveland County), quarter size hail near Jerome and Tillar (both in Drew County) and nickel size hail at Rison (Cleveland County) and Star City (Lincoln County).
There was a large temperature contrast across the front, with mid 30s toward the Missouri border and mid 60s around the Louisiana border.
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| Low Temperatures (as of 6 am CST on the 27th) |
| Site |
Temperature (°F) |
| Fayetteville (NW AR) |
36° |
| Harrison (NC AR) |
36° |
| Jonesboro (NE AR) |
50° |
| Fort Smith (WC AR) |
47° |
| Little Rock (C AR) |
58° |
| North Little Rock (C AR) |
58° |
| West Memphis (EC AR) |
60° |
| Texarkana (SW AR) |
63° |
| El Dorado (SC AR) |
64° |
| Monticello (SE AR) |
65° |
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Colder air behind the front came into play on the 28th as a new system aloft arrived from the Plains. |
| In the picture: The satellite showed no clouds and a lot of snow over northeast Arkansas at 1002 am CST on 03/01/2009. |
| The system spread snow across northern and central Arkansas, with heavy snow in the northeast. Accumulations in this area ranged from four to more than twelve inches. A foot of snow was measured around Blytheville and Wilson (both in Mississippi County), with 8 to 9 inches at Paragould (Greene County). |
| Additional February Details |
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| For more details about February, 2009...go to the "Temperatures and Precipitation" section below. |
| Temperatures and Precipitation |
| Temperatures were above normal in February. Readings at Little Rock are shown to right. |
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Rainfall was generally below normal. There were a few spots with above normal precipitation in central and eastern Arkansas. 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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