Heat — Lafayette, Arkansas

2024-07-04 to 2024-07-05 · Lafayette, Arkansas

Wider weather episode

An upper level ridge that had been persistent across the Southern Plains to start the first several days of July finally began to shift off to the east, in response to an upper trough moving into the area. This trough allowed a weak cool front to slowly progress south through Southern Oklahoma, Western and Central Arkansas during the 5th, where increased large scale forcing and a moist, unstable air mass focused scattered showers and thunderstorms along the front. However, compressional warming occurred along and just south of the front over portions of Northeast Texas, Southern Arkansas, and North Louisiana, where temperatures were able to climb into the upper 90s to near 100 degrees. When combined with the humidity, heat indices ranged from 105-109 degrees. These storms gradually spread south into Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, and extreme Northeast Texas during the afternoon of the 5th, resulting in cooler temperatures across Southern Arkansas by mid-afternoon.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1195318. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.