Dangerously hot conditions are occurring today in southeast Oklahoma, the ArkLaTex, lower Mississippi Valley, and Puerto Rico. Hot temperatures surround this area throughout the southern U.S. Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories in effect. Excessive rainfall may lead to flash flooding today over parts of northern Alabama into eastern Tennessee and the Cascades. Read More >
Information on this webpage is considered preliminary.
Event Summary - April 21-27, 2011 Heavy Rain, Record Flooding, and Severe Weather - updated 10:10 am 5/10/11
Severe weather and extreme flooding affected eastern Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas from April 21-27, 2011 along a frontal boundary, which had stalled across the region. The front pushed further eastward by April 27 and was associated with the historic tornadic outbreak across the Deep South Region. A series of upper-level disturbances interacted with the frontal boundary while it was draped across the area, leading to multiple rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms and associated heavy rainfall. By April 24, the once drought-stricken area had become saturated and widespread flash flooding occurred. Storms that continued on April 25 only exacerbated the flash flooding. In addition, rapid rises along area creeks and rivers caused extensive river flooding, especially in the Illinois River Basin, where record flooding occurred.
Several locations across northwest Arkansas and east central Oklahoma measured over 5" of rain in one day, including: Haskell, OK 6.77" (4/24 OK mesonet), Okmulgee, OK 6.76" (4/24 OK mesonet), Prairie Grove, AR 6.07" (4/25, COOP), Hectorville, OK 5.74" (4/24, OK mesonet), Porter, OK 5.51" (4/24, OK mesonet), Muskogee Davis Field, OK 5.19" (4/24, ASOS), and Hindsville, AR 10E 5.10" (4/24, COOP). In addition, many locations in this area received 3+ inches of rainfall for 3 days in a row (rain that fell on April 23-25).
Widespread rainfall totals of 6" to 12" affected east central Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas during the 7-day period ending at 7 am CDT April 28, 2011. Portions of Adair County in Oklahoma and Washington and Benton Counties in Arkansas received 12" to 16" of rainfall during this same time. Rainfall estimate images are shown below. A citizen in Beaver, AR reported 17.7" rainfall total through the evening of April 25 to a local TV station. For reference, the 30-year normal (1971-2000) April rainfall for Fayetteville, AR is 4.33" and the normal annual rainfall is 46.02". The widespread flash flooding unfortunately led to 5 fatalities in northwest Arkansas when cars were swept away or stalled in high water.
New Record Floods:
River Location | Preliminary Crest Height | Crest Time | Previous Record |
Illinois River near Watts, OK | 28.60 feet | 3:00 am CDT 4/26/2011 | 25.96 feet 7/25/1960 |
Baron Fork at Eldon, OK | 28.51 feet | 10:30 pm CDT 4/25/2011 | 26.77 feet 6/21/2000 |
Major Flooding:
River Location | Preliminary Crest Height | Crest Time | Current Record |
Kings River near Berryville, AR | 35.47 feet | 7:45 am CDT 4/26/2011 | 38.91 feet 11/19/1985 |
Illinois River near Tahlequah, OK | 25.97 feet | 9:00 pm CDT 4/26/2011 | 27.94 feet 5/10/1950 |
Moderate and Minor flooding also occurred at the following locations: Arkansas River at Van Buren, AR; Lee Creek near Van Buren; Poteau River near Poteau, OK; Poteau River Panama, OK; Flint Creek near Kansas, OK; Deep Fork River near Beggs, OK; Neosho River near Commerce, OK; Spring River near Quapaw, OK, and Polecat Creek near Sapulpa.
Location |
5-Day Rainfall Total thru 7am 4/26 |
7-Day Rainfall Total thru 7am 4/28 |
Source | Location |
5-Day Rainfall Total thru 7am 4/26 |
7-Day Rainfall Total thru 7am 4/28 |
Source | |
Prairie Grove, AR | 14.48" | 15.15" | NWS COOP Observer | Dutch Mills, AR | 10.02" | 10.42" | USGS | |
Hindsville, AR 10E | 14.47" | 15.78" | NWS COOP Observer | Webbers Falls, OK | 9.12" | 10.42" | OK Mesonet | |
Eureka Springs, AR 3WNW | 13.26" | 14.31" | NWS COOP Observer | Tenkiller Lake | 9.07" | 9.76" | USACE | |
Fayetteville, AR | 13.14" | 13.55" | USACE/USGS | Oktaha, OK 2NE | 8.97" | missing | NWS COOP Observer | |
Hindsville, AR 10NNE | 13.13" | 14.14" | NWS COOP Observer | Muskogee, OK | 8.58" | 8.74" | USACE/USGS | |
Westville, OK | 12.48" | 13.82" | OK Mesonet | Winfrey, AR | 8.56" | 9.32" | USGS | |
Wesley, AR 3N | 12.33" | 13.26" | NWS COOP Observer | Tahlequah, OK | 8.49" | 9.71" | OK Mesonet | |
Fayetteville Drake Field | 12.32" | 12.77" | NWS ASOS | Okmulgee, OK | 8.40" | 8.46" | OK Mesonet | |
Berryville, AR 5NW | 12.16" | 13.11" | NWS COOP Observer | Haskell, OK | 8.31" | 8.45" | OK Mesonet | |
Eldon, OK | 11.70" | 12.01" | USACE/USGS | Short, OK 1W | 8.24" | 8.90" | USGS | |
Beaver Lake, AR | 11.05" | 12.06" | USACE | Fort Gibson Lake, OK | 7.90" | 7.95" | USACE | |
Northwest AR Regional Arpt | 10.98" | 11.88" | NWS ASOS | Porter, OK | 7.49" | 7.70" | OK Mesonet | |
Gravette, AR | 10.53" | 11.46" | NWS COOP Observer | Spavinaw, OK | 7.44" | 7.68" | NWS COOP Observer | |
Berryville, AR | 10.52" | 11.22" | USACE/USGS | Kansas, OK | 7.43" | 7.63" | USACE/USGS | |
Strickler, AR | 10.40" | 11.21" | RAWS | Short, OK 4S | 7.43" | 8.37" | USGS | |
Watts, OK | 10.32" | 10.89" | USACE/USGS | Muskogee Davis Field | 7.33" | 7.34" | NWS ASOS | |
Cookson, OK | 10.24" | 12.59" | OK Mesonet | Hectorville, OK | 7.30" | 7.34" | OK Mesonet | |
Gore, OK | 10.16" | 10.56" | USGS | Whitefield, OK | 7.05" | 7.56" | USGS | |
Odell, AR 2N | 10.08" | 10.66" | NWS COOP Observer | Lake Eucha, OK | 7.01" | 7.46" | USACE |
Image captions below the image. Click on image to open a larger version in a new window.