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| Abnormally Dry Conditions |
| At times, below normal precipitation will lead to a lack of ground water and worsening drought conditions in Arkansas. Check out the latest conditions below. |
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Monitoring Drought in Arkansas |
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| Drought Status |
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Outside of some abnormally dry conditions (D0) in places, there was no drought in Arkansas in md-July. Next Page Update: August 2, 2024
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| Drought Conditions (Percent Area) |
| Category |
Coverage |
| None |
84.19% |
| D0-D4 |
15.81% |
| D1-D4 |
0% |
| D2-D4 |
0% |
| D3-D4 |
0% |
| D4 |
0% |
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| In the picture: There were no drought conditions in Arkansas on 07/16/2024. |
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| In the picture: Drought conditions as of 07/16/2024. |
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Across the country, the worst drought conditions (at least D2) were in the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, central and southern Plains, and the southeast and mid-Atlantic states.
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| In the picture: Tropical Storm Beryl was closing in on the Texas Gulf Coast on 07/07/2024. The system became a hurricane before making landfall early the next morning. Soon after, the remnants of Beryl made an appearance in Arkansas, and unleashed areas of heavy rain/isolated tornadoes. |
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Here at home in July (through the 17th), the remnants of Hurricane Beryl brought heavy rain to northern, western, and central Arkansas on the 8th/9th. A week later (on the 16th/17th), a flooding rain (amounts over six inches in places) impacted areas from Yellville (Marion County) to Marshall (Searcy County), Mountain View (Stone County), Heber Springs (Cleburne County), and Conway (Faulkner County). Meanwhile, portions of the east/southeast were not affected much by these events, and had below average precipitation.
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| Precipitation in July, 2024 (Through the 17th) |
| Site |
Amount |
Normal |
+/- |
% of Normal |
| Fayetteville (NW AR) |
3.55 |
2.31 |
+1.24 |
154% |
| Harrison (NC AR) |
6.79 |
1.99 |
+4.80 |
341% |
| Jonesboro (NE AR) |
2.29 |
2.01 |
+0.28 |
114% |
| Fort Smith (WC AR) |
3.25 |
2.05 |
+1.20 |
159% |
| Little Rock (C AR) |
4.85 |
1.92 |
+2.93 |
253% |
| West Memphis (EC AR) |
1.24 |
2.35 |
-1.11 |
53% |
| Texarkana (SW AR) |
5.82 |
1.87 |
+3.95 |
311% |
| El Dorado (SC AR) |
1.85 |
1.95 |
-0.10 |
95% |
| Pine Bluff (SE AR) |
1.90 |
2.03 |
-0.13 |
94% |
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| In the picture: Precipitation across Arkansas in June, 2024. |
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In June, downpours were few and far between (one to more than three inch rainfall deficits) in northern/eastern Arkansas. The only areas with more than usual rain (generally by less than an inch) were in the south.
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| Precipitation in June, 2024 |
| Site |
Amount |
Normal |
+/- |
% of Normal |
| Fayetteville (NW AR) |
1.88 |
4.31 |
-2.43 |
44% |
| Harrison (NC AR) |
0.47 |
3.85 |
-3.38 |
12% |
| Jonesboro (NE AR) |
3.22 |
3.05 |
+0.17 |
106% |
| Fort Smith (WC AR) |
3.45 |
4.56 |
-1.11 |
76% |
| Little Rock (C AR) |
1.87 |
3.55 |
-1.68 |
53% |
| West Memphis (EC AR) |
2.72 |
4.10 |
-1.38 |
66% |
| Texarkana (SW AR) |
4.21 |
3.92 |
+0.29 |
107% |
| El Dorado (SC AR) |
4.13 |
3.88 |
+0.25 |
106% |
| Pine Bluff (SE AR) |
3.54 |
3.27 |
+0.27 |
108% |
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In 2024 (through July 17th), wet to very wet conditions were found across the central and southern counties, and it was somewhat dry in the northwest and east. Precipitation was more than ten inches above average at El Dorado (Union County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), and Texarkana (Miller County), and over four inches subpar at Fayetteville (Washington County) and West Memphis (Crittenden County).
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| Precipitation in 2024 (Through July 17th) |
| Site |
Amount |
Normal |
+/- |
% of Normal |
| Fayetteville (NW AR) |
22.46 |
26.81 |
-4.35 |
84% |
| Harrison (NC AR) |
25.11 |
24.63 |
+0.48 |
102% |
| Jonesboro (NE AR) |
27.53 |
27.46 |
+0.07 |
100% |
| Fort Smith (WC AR) |
29.09 |
26.61 |
+2.48 |
109% |
| Little Rock (C AR) |
43.11 |
28.57 |
+14.54 |
151% |
| West Memphis (EC AR) |
24.50 |
29.74 |
-5.24 |
82% |
| Texarkana (SW AR) |
37.90 |
27.69 |
+10.21 |
137% |
| El Dorado (SC AR) |
43.59 |
29.99 |
+13.60 |
145% |
| Pine Bluff (SE AR) |
31.63 |
28.83 |
+2.80 |
110% |
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| In the picture: Drought outlook through October, 2024. |
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Looking ahead, El Niño (warmer than normal water temperatures near the equator in the Pacific Ocean) is gone, and there will likely be a transition to La Niña (cooler than normal water) later in the year. While short term data shows enough rain to keep drought from becoming an issue (early summer), longer term trends show otherwise. As La Niña becomes more dominant in the late summer/fall, we may be faced with dryness and drought depending on how much precipitation is provided by the tropics. The forecast calls for a more active than usual hurricane season. We will monitor the situation closely.
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| Precipitation Statistics (2019-2023) |
| Site |
2023 |
+/- |
2022 |
+/- |
2021 |
+/- |
2020 |
+/- |
2019 |
+/- |
Total +/- |
| Fayetteville (NW AR) |
44.89 |
-2.07 |
41.76 |
-5.20 |
42.60 |
-4.36 |
49.86 |
+1.35 |
65.26 |
+16.75 |
+6.47 |
| Harrison (NC AR) |
44.59 |
+0.09 |
43.23 |
-1.27 |
46.81 |
+2.31 |
53.60 |
+9.46 |
56.98 |
+12.84 |
+23.43 |
| Jonesboro (NE AR) |
48.43 |
-0.08 |
47.27 |
-1.24 |
41.36 |
-7.15 |
56.25 |
+8.15 |
65.89 |
+17.79 |
+17.47 |
| Fort Smith (WC AR) |
45.29 |
-2.05 |
56.01 |
+8.67 |
50.60 |
+3.26 |
61.62 |
+16.16 |
67.50 |
+22.04 |
+48.08 |
| Little Rock (C AR) |
56.86 |
+6.44 |
48.29 |
-2.13 |
43.71 |
-6.71 |
60.04 |
+10.29 |
60.46 |
+10.71 |
+18.60 |
| West Memphis (EC AR) |
46.99 |
-3.41 |
53.17 |
+2.77 |
44.66 |
-5.74 |
53.89 |
+1.66 |
73.86 |
+20.63 |
+15.91 |
| Texarkana (SW AR) |
56.66 |
+7.79 |
45.38 |
-3.49 |
47.03 |
-1.84 |
68.81 |
+19.16 |
51.53 |
+1.88 |
+23.50 |
| El Dorado (SC AR) |
57.11 |
+4.99 |
50.41 |
-1.71 |
49.27 |
-2.85 |
66.18 |
+13.26 |
60.64 |
+7.72 |
+21.41 |
| Pine Bluff (SE AR) |
48.39 |
-2.42 |
46.87 |
-3.94 |
44.94 |
-5.87 |
63.04 |
+11.89 |
63.96 |
+12.81 |
+12.47 |
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Looking back at recorded history, drought is no stranger to Arkansas. The good news is that periods of drought are generally short-lived. That was the case in 2011 when a deluge unfolded from mid-November to mid-December.
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Twelve to more than eighteen inches of rain was measured from Mena (Polk County) to Mount Ida (Montgomery County), Russellville (Pope County), Little Rock (Pulaski County), Jonesboro (Craighead County) and West Memphis (Crittenden County). |
| In the picture: Thirty day rainfall through 600 am CST on 12/11/2011. |
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Hurricane Isaac brought much needed rain to drought stricken areas of the south and east in late August, 2012. Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) had 8.39 inches in the forty eight hour period ending at 700 am CDT on September 1st.
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| In the picture: Hurricane Isaac was just off the coast of Louisiana at 425 pm CDT on 08/28/2012. |
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In September, 2013, areas from Little Rock (Pulaski County) southward got two to four inches of rain, with locally over six inches on the 19th/20th. Some of these amounts exceeded what would normally be expected during the entire month. This busted a short term extreme (D3) drought that peaked just a few days prior to the rain.
The southern half of Arkansas dealt with a moderate to extreme drought (D2 to D4) in October, 2015. Very dry air and heat in the middle of the month made conditions worse. On the 15th, Little Rock experienced the hottest October day on record when the thermometer showed 98 degrees. Fast forward to the wettest November in recorded state history, and the drought was erased.
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| Streamflow and Soil Moisture |
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