National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

There were two tornadoes in the Corning (Clay County) area of far northeast Arkansas. The strongest of these (rated EF2) hit a local airport, and damaged several hangars. Damage may exceed $5 million.

Heat followed Isaac for several days. On the 6th, for example, temperatures topped out at 105 degrees or more at De Queen (Sevier County), Fort Smith (Sebastian County) and Texarkana (Miller County). Triple digit readings came to an end on the 7th when a strong cold front arrived from the Plains. The front promised significantly cooler weather, but it did not come without consequences.

The front was preceded by several lines of storms with bowing segments. Where storms bowed out, damaging winds resulted. In some cases, winds were extreme.

Winds were estimated between 70 and 80 mph at Batesville (Independence County). At the local airport, a hangar was thrown onto Highway 167 and blocked traffic.

One of the bigger storms during the event was near Dover (Pope County). A powerful storm produced up to baseball size hail, which cracked car windows and damaged roof shingles. A trained spotter measured an 80 to 85 mph gust.

Statewide, thousands of people were left without power. At one time, power outages affected at least 60,000 customers. This is three times as many as experienced with the remnants of Hurricane Isaac.

The front exited toward the Gulf Coast on the 8th, and rain ended. Rapid clearing and a breezy north to northwest wind followed. High temperatures were only in the mid 70s to mid 80s.

A wet pattern set up in mid-September. A slow moving storm system in Texas interacted with a stalled front across Arkansas to create an unsettled atmosphere and areas of rain. Abundant moisture increased the likelihood of heavy precipitation.

On the 14th, there were heavy downpours in the Little Rock (Pulaski County) area. One gauge in the Heights district recorded 2.76 inches of rain between 500 and 600 pm CDT. At Maumelle (Pulaski County), an inch of rain fell in 15 minutes. By the time precipitation ended, there were some three to five inch amounts locally, especially northwest of the downtown area.

Through the 17th, similar amounts were measured in central and southern sections of the state, including El Dorado (Union County), Hot Springs (Garland County), Mount Ida (Montgomery County) and Russellville (Pope County).

During the event, it was quite cool at times. On the 15th, afternoon temperatures were generally in the 60s and 70s (10 to 15 degrees cooler than normal).

The month finished with a meandering front and chances for rain from the the 24th through the 30th. A few spots had amounts over two inches.

September totals offered some good news as far as drought relief. El Dorado (Union County), Jonesboro (Craighead County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) and West Memphis (Crittenden County) received more than one and a half times (150%) the normal rainfall.

Unfortunately, in the north and parts of the far west, monthly totals were at or below normal. Harrison (Boone County) was closing in on ten inches on the minus side in 2012, and Texarkana (Miller County) was subpar by 10.06 inches.

Kirk was a minimal hurricane to begin the month. The system weakened rapidly as it moved across the cold water of the north Atlantic Ocean. Kirk was no longer tropical by the 2nd.

Leslie also struggled in early September. The system toggled between Tropical Storm and minimal hurricane as it drifted to the east of Bermuda by the 9th. Leslie then picked up momentum, and raced toward Newfoundland by the 11th.

Michael formed on the 4th in the central Atlantic Ocean, and moved to the north and then the northeast. The system was never a threat to land. Even so, Michael strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane by the 6th with 115 mph sustained winds. The system maintained its strength into the 10th before fading quickly.

Nadine was around for a long time, lasting from the 11th into the first few days of October. Like Michael, the system meandered over the open water of the Atlantic Ocean and avoided land. Nadine was mostly a Tropical Storm, but reached hurricane strength at least a couple of times.