Heavy rain continued soaking Arkansas on Monday, and more is expected today before a stalled upper-level low-pressure system finally breaks up and moves out of the state Wednesday, forecasters said.
The precipitation, which moved into the state Thursday with violent storms, has caused flash flooding, raised river levels and saturated the ground, toppling some trees.
"It's not over yet," said National Weather Service meteorologist Julie Lesko of North Little Rock. "We're seeing a repetitive pattern of rainfall developing overnight and ending early the next evening before firing back up."
Monticello broke a 104-year-old record Monday when 3.09 inches of rain pelted the Drew County town. The previous record for rainfall on June 9 occurred in 1910, when 2.14 inches of rain fell.
Since the system blew into the state, Marianna reported 4.56 inches of rain from Thursday through Sunday. Jonesboro saw 3.84 inches, Blytheville recorded 2.54 inches and Walnut Ridge reported 1.83 inches of rain since Thursday, said National Weather Service meteorologist Zach Maye of Memphis.
"We have had these patters of upper-level disturbances each day since Thursday," he said. "They came in and took a life of their own."
The weather service reported flash flooding in Jefferson County on Monday, and rivers swelled.
The Cache River in Patterson rose from 6.6 feet Friday to 8.9 feet Monday evening. Flood stage there is 8 feet.
In Black Rock, where high winds toppled a tree and killed a woman parked in a car last week at the high school in the Lawrence County town, the Black River rose more than 4 feet in 18 hours, going from 6.07 feet at 3 p.m. Friday to 10.8 feet at 6 a.m. Saturday. Flood stage there is 14 feet.
The weather service also confirmed two tornadoes that touched down Friday in Arkansas.
An EF1 twister, with winds between 95-105 mph, ripped shingles off several Batesville hotels and struck a day-care center. The tornado was 75 yards wide and traveled about 2 miles, weather service officials said.
A second EF1 tornado destroyed a shop building and old airplane hangar and snapped several utility poles Friday afternoon in Beedeville along Arkansas 37 in Jackson County.
The weather service issued tornado warnings Monday for Cross, St. Francis and White counties, but no twisters were confirmed.
Meanwhile, roofing companies scrambled between rain showers to place tarps on homes that lost shingles and to repair damage left by the storms.
"We're doing everything we can," said Dana Totty, a secretary at Jonesboro Roofing Company. "We have a lot of tarps on houses. We're getting 10 to 20 calls a day for help."
Workers also continued clearing at least 40 railcars that were blown off Union Pacific train tracks in Craighead County on Thursday. The state Highway and Transportation Department said Monday that U.S. 49 would remain closed until at least Friday. Winds knocked the cars -- many carrying steel pipes -- at least 50 yards off tracks and onto the highway.
The rainfall is hampering farmers who are trying to harvest wheat, said Lee County cooperative extension agent Ernest Bradley in Marianna.
"It's wet," Bradley said. "We need a couple days of sunshine just to dry the fields out so the farmers can begin harvesting."
He said the problem is twofold: If farmers can't reap wheat soon, it will put them behind in planting soybeans in the fall.
"We'll be looking at the same thing this fall when the rains come again," he said. "If they're delayed in planting soybeans any longer, they'll be looking at the same situations in October."
Lesko said because the ground is so soggy with rain, trees are now easily uprooted by storms.
"Trees can fall over without the more severe winds," she said. "Usually, it takes 60 mph winds, but now, since the ground is saturated, a 40 mph or 50 mph wind could do it."
The weather service said showers were expected to continue through today before the sun peeks out on Wednesday.
The rain reprieve will be short-lived, though, she said. Another front is forecast to enter the state Thursday, carrying with it a chance of thunderstorms Thursday and Friday.
"We are having a late spring," Lesko said of the continuous rounds of rain. "We had a cold winter, and things are just now getting active."
State Desk on 06/10/2014