The year began with an abundance of water as flooding deluged the state's rivers, and it ended with a need for more rainfall because of a worsening drought.
In between, Arkansas saw 25 tornadoes -- a drop from the average 33 twisters it records each year -- as an El Nino weather phenomenon kept volatile weather conditions to a minimum.
"I say that 2016 was the year of flood and the year of drought," meteorologist John Lewis of the National Weather Service in North Little Rock said. "We had big extremes on both sides."
Lewis said the El Nino, a warming of the waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean that can impact temperatures and storm systems in the United States, has dissipated, but now a La Nina, the cooling of the same Pacific Ocean, could see an increase in tornadic activity in Arkansas in 2017.
The year began with flooding on the Mississippi, Arkansas and Red rivers, along with their tributaries, in Arkansas. Gov. Asa Hutchison declared 21 counties as disaster areas. A man died near Dover in Pope County on Jan. 4 when his vehicle became stuck on a downed tree as he tried to drive over a low-water bridge.
It was one of three weather-related fatalities in the state in 2016. One person died in a multi-vehicle accident in Lawrence County on April 10 when windblown dust caused poor visibility on U.S. 63. Twelve others were injured in the accident. A woman drowned in June when her canoe capsized in the flooded Buffalo National River in Newton County.
Rains abated and temperatures were unseasonably warm in mid-January and February, but the rains returned the following month.
March was the third-wettest month in the state's history, Lewis said. Little Rock recorded more than 12 inches of rain during the month and southern Arkansas saw well over a foot of rainfall.
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Eudora in Chicot County measured 7.4 inches of rain within 24 hours March 10, causing Bayou Macon to rise to the second-highest level on record.
"We have fields of water," Eudora City Water Clerk Lucille Brown said at the time. "Streets are flooding, and it's still raining as we speak."
It also was the busiest month for tornadoes. The National Weather Service confirmed 13 twisters touched down in the state in March, including an EF2 with winds up to 135 mph in Washington County that injured four.
April saw 10 more tornadoes. Heavy rains also flooded a Jonesboro Toyota dealership car lot and Kays Hall, a first-year residence hall at Arkansas State University.
The strongest recorded straight-line winds of the year were also in April. Mount Pleasant in Miller County measured winds of 90 mph on April 11. In Camden, gusts of 85 mph were recorded April 30 and an 80 mph wind speed was measured in Greenbrier on April 29.
Officials measured one of the largest pieces of hail in April, a 2.5-inch chunk of ice fell near Fort Smith on April 29, the Weather Service said.
Heavy rain returned in July as Little Rock saw 7.37 inches of rainfall for the month and Fayetteville recorded 6.88 inches. Precipitation records were broken for the month of August in Greers Ferry, Mount Ida and Mountain View.
The rains stopped again in September and the state began seeing the formation of drought conditions. The state averaged only 6.7 inches of rainfall for September, October and November, one of the top 15 driest falls in Arkansas history.
"When you look at the entire year, it looks like Arkansas had an average rainfall amount," said Brad Rippey, a meteorologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. "But it's an average of extremes. You had a lot of rain at certain points and then a lot of dry weather."
Overall, the southeastern part of Arkansas measured 60 inches of rain for the year while Northwest Arkansas saw 32 inches.
"It was a case of the have and have-nots," Lewis said.
More than 76 percent of the state remained in some form of drought at the end of 2016, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, an organization based at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that issues weekly reports about drought conditions in the United States.
It's an improvement over last week, said Rippey, who authored the week's drought report. Last week, 100 percent of the state was in some form of drought. Rainfall in the central and northeastern parts of the state last week helped eliminate the drought there, he said.
Lewis said the formation of the La Nina could mean the state will see more volatile winter during the spring of 2017.
In previous years where a La Nina quickly followed an El Nino, the number of tornadoes increased.
In 1999, a La Nina followed by an El Nino year, the Weather Service recorded 107 tornadoes for the year. In 2008, another year with similar weather patterns, the state saw 81 twisters. In 2011, the last time the La Nina formed on the heels of an El Nino, 75 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas.
"Who knows what could happen if we have warmer-than-average temperatures now," Lewis said. "If we have a mild January and February, be very afraid."
State Desk on 12/31/2016