National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Overview

A moist and unstable air mass remained in place over the weekend of May 16th-17th, 2020.  With a very slow moving upper level low pressure system bringing waves of energy into the area from the south and near tropical moisture in place, this set the stage for additional heavy rain.  The work week leading up to the weekend of the 16th and 17th was also fairly rainy which led to fairly saturated soil moisture levels.  Showers and thunderstorms were slow moving and trained across the same locations during the early morning hours of the 16th, with more scattered thunderstorms continuing throughout the day.  A second wave of more organized showers and storms lifted north out of Arkansas during the late evening of the 16th, continuing into the morning of the 17th.  This led to some widespread flooding and flash flooding, especially in low lying areas near rivers, creeks and streams as many of these had gone well above flood stage.
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