Heavy rain that could "severely worsen" river flooding and also spur flash flooding in parts of Arkansas is expected this week, forecasters said.
Storms are expected to start Tuesday and continue through Sunday, with a brief respite on Wednesday, according to a briefing from the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.
Much of the southeast half of the state is at a slight risk of excessive rainfall, with 3 to 6 inches possible, the weather service said, while parts of eastern Arkansas may see as much as 8 inches before the week is over. Much of the northwest half of the state is at a marginal risk of excessive rainfall, with expected totals ranging from 1 to 3 inches.
Flash flooding is a concern across the state, most notably on Tuesday and Saturday, the weather service said.
Brian Smith, a senior forecaster at the agency, said the rain could cause more problems for areas already dealing with river flooding.
“The rivers haven’t totally fallen from the heavy rain we had a few days ago, and this time of year when we get these bouts of moderate to heavy rainfall it doesn’t really give them any time to fall before the rising again,” Smith said. “In some cases it can keep them from falling significantly, and in other cases it can bring them right back up.”
On this day 98 years ago, most of Arkansas braced not for significant rainfall, but heavy, wet snow. Some regions received as much as 24 inches, and the one-day totals from that storm remain some of the highest on record for the state.
The Arkansas Gazette reported the following day that the storm broke and partially sank a pontoon bridge over the Arkansas River at Dardanelle, the worst of the storm's damage. The sinking of the bridge, the reporter wrote, was sure to cause “a great inconvenience.”