Heavy Rain — Pulaski, Arkansas

2010-05-25 · near Douglas Corner, Pulaski, Arkansas

Event narrative

Very heavy rain late on the afternoon of May 25th led to the collapse of the roof over a wing of J.A. Fair High School in southwest Little Rock. The roof fell in over two classrooms. Concrete blocks, lockers, and other debris were scattered down adjacent hallways. Some staff members were still in the building when the collapse occurred, but there were no injuries. Several inches of water covered most of the floors in the school Nearby, a few broken limbs and some small branches in the road indicated that winds from the thunderstorm did not likely exceed 40 mph.

Wider weather episode

Unseasonably warm temperatures and humid air combined with small areas of low pressure aloft to set off afternoon and evening thunderstorms on May 24th through 27th. A few of the storms were severe. The storms moved very slowly, resulting in large amounts of rain falling over relatively small areas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.7059, -92.4131)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 221784. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.