NWS Little Rock, AR - July, 2022 Monthly Summary

Storm Reports

Are you interested in what happened during a recent event? Check out the report below.

	July, 2022 Storm Report

Monthly Statistics

	Temperatures							Precipitation
Site	Max	Min	Avg	Norm	Dep	Hi	Lo	Sum	Norm	Dep
Fayetteville (NW AR)	96.9	71.2	84.0	77.9	+6.1	104	64	2.45	3.80	-1.35
Harrison (NC AR)	95.0	71.0	83.0	78.5	+4.5	102	65	3.11	3.67	-0.56
Jonesboro (NE AR)	93.8	75.3	84.6	81.7	+2.9	102	67	6.27	3.69	+2.58
Fort Smith (WC AR)	100.2	76.4	88.3	83.1	+5.2	108	72	2.06	3.39	-1.33
Little Rock (C AR)	97.0	76.1	86.6	81.4	+5.2	103	71	3.22	3.33	-0.11
Texarkana (SW AR)	100.9	77.9	89.4	82.5	+6.9	108	71	0.31	3.37	-3.06
El Dorado (SC AR)	94.9	73.4	84.1	82.4	+1.7	101	68	7.38	3.43	+3.95
Pine Bluff (SE AR)	95.8	75.3	85.5	81.9	+3.6	101	69	1.15	3.69	-2.54

Temperatures across the state in July were some of the hottest seen in recent years. Many locations observed a top ten hottest July on record bases on average temperature. With a few notable exceptions, much of the state experienced a very dry month with well below normal rainfall amounts.

Record Temperatures

Temperature records broken in July. Check out the records below.

Site	Record High (Date of Occurrence)
Hot Springs	105 (7/9), 104T (7/22), 101T (7/24)
Mount Ida	106 (7/9)
Russellville	103 (7/9), 105 (7/26)
Jacksonville/LRAFB	102T (7/22)
North Little Rock	100T (7/24)
Little Rock	103T (7/26)

Quick Event Summary

One of the hottest and driest July months on record across the state, July 2022 saw little in the way of significant rainfall totals along with prolonged above normal temperatures. Dry conditions carried over from the moth of June which allowed the heat to reach levels that haven't been noted in as much as 10 years in some cases. Rainfall didn't completely shutoff, but for much of the state didn't become widespread until the end of the month.

To no ones surprise, burn bans have been issued for many areas of Nrn AR and a few locations of Wrn AR. Over the N, rainfall deficits of 2" to 6" was common over the last 60 days. Further S over Cntrl AR, conds were pretty much even. Over the S, conds were dry by 2" to 4". #arwx pic.twitter.com/Tiw3uglddf
— NWS Little Rock (@NWSLittleRock) July 7, 2022

In the picture: A map of burn bans issued by county judges as well as current rainfall deficits.

With rainfall deficits beginning to add up and little rainfall in the forecast, wildfire danger and ongoing drought conditions began to worsen. The number of burn bans issued by county judges began to rise as the month progressed and wildfire danger was increased to high by the Arkansas Forestry Division across much of the state. The entire month of July wasn't dry however as a couple storm systems moved through the state bringing some rain and at times cooler temperatures. A couple of these systems occurred on July 3rd, 12th and again from late on the 17th into the 18th. Some storms on these days produced large hail, damaging wind gusts and locally heavy rainfall. While not very widespread, a persistent area of thunderstorms developed across southern Arkansas on July 3rd, producing over 11 inches of rain at Moro Bay State Park (Bradley County).

Link of Interest

Drought Development/Very Hot (Through July 22nd)

While not quite a drought buster, there was some improvement noted across the state toward the end of the month as a stalled front lingered over the area and interacted with storm systems moving through. The heaviest rainfall amounts were focused across portions of northern and southern Arkansas with some areas across west central, central and eastern Arkansas seeing little to no rainfall. A few storms produced severe weather, mainly in the form of damaging wind gusts. Some areas received too much rain in a short period of time and flash flooding occurred. Temperatures were generally cooler during the last several days of the month, particularly across northern Arkansas. Areas ahead of the front that saw little to no rainfall continued to see high temperatures climb into the upper 90s to around 100 degrees.

High pressure has kept it very hot/mostly dry lately. So far this summer, temperatures have reached 100 degrees or more 23 times at Fort Smith and Texarkana. Through the weekend, the heat will take a break, with appreciable rain in the northern half of Arkansas.#arwx pic.twitter.com/SVPN0gpWIA
— NWS Little Rock (@NWSLittleRock) July 28, 2022

In the picture: A regional map showing rainfall deficits as well as the most recent highest temperature at select sites. A regional map also shows expected rainfall amounts through the end of July.

Link of Interest

Areas of Heavy Rain on July 27-31

Monthly Average Temperature Rankings

Monthly average temperature rankings for July 2022. Check out the records below.

Site	July 2022 Rank	Records Since
Fayetteville	Third Hottest	1949
Fort Smith	Third Hottest	1882
Harrison	Tenth Hottest	1892
Little Rock	Sixth Hottest	1879
Mount Ida	First Hottest	1883
Pine Bluff	Tenth Hottest	1884
Russellville	Fifth Hottest	1882