Flood — Jackson, Arkansas

2023-02-08 · near Elgin, Jackson, Arkansas

Event narrative

AR State Hwy. 226 was underwater and impassable along with several roads across Jackson County.

Wider weather episode

Heavy to excessive rain was in the forecast on February 7th/8th, especially in northern and western Arkansas. This was ahead of a storm system in the southern Plains, and north of a nearly stationary front draped across central sections of the state. South of the front, increasing warmth/moisture set the stage for the possibility of severe thunderstorms toward evening on the 8th.

The placement of the front was obvious as of 300 pm CST on the 8th. North of the front, temperatures were only in the 40s/50s. The thermometer showed 45 degrees at Harrison (Boone County) and 49 degrees at Walnut Ridge (Lawrence County). Readings were in the 60s/70s farther south, with a springlike 78 degrees at Monticello (Drew County), and 79 degrees at Camden (Ouachita County).

Three to more than six inches of precipitation dumped at many locations in the north/west. Forty eight hour amounts through 600 am CST on the 9th included 6.60 inches at Mountain View (Stone County), 6.03 inches at Big Fork (Polk County), 5.82 inches at Mena (Polk County), 5.66 inches at Hattieville (Conway County), 5.42 inches at Witts Springs (Searcy County), 5.32 inches at Vandervoort (Polk County), 5.30 inches at Langley (Pike County), 5.24 inches at Damascus (Van Buren County), 5.19 inches at Morrilton (Conway County), 5.18 inches at Danville (Yell County), 5.12 inches at Murfreesboro (Pike County), 5.09 inches at Cushman (Independence County), 5.03 inches at Greers Ferry Dam (Cleburne County), and 5.02 inches at Mount Ida (Montgomery County).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.7300, -91.2900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1080430. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.