Flash Flood in Nevada County, Arkansas

Flash flooding with high water covering several roads in the city of Prescott.

A slowly advancing cold front across Southern Arkansas continued moving southward late into the evening on December 16th. Concurrently, warm sector southerly flow provided weak but sufficient surface convergence just ahead of the cold front. Strong convection with some weak QLCS features generally trained along the boundary/deep-layer moisture interface and was fed upstream by a sector of 1000-1250 J/kg of MUCAPE. Rainfall rates of 1.5-1.75/hour occurred, given the environment of deep moisture and unstable air with training profiles allowing for streaks of 2-3 inch totals. While soil conditions were fairly dry and generally receptible, they had become quite dormant and rainfall rates were sufficient for localized pooling and excessive run-off. As a result, a few isolated instances of flash flooding were reported across parts of Southwest Arkansas.