A storm front that was expected to bring rain and high wind to southeast Arkansas on Wednesday didn't get revved up until it moved into Mississippi, according to the National Weather Service.
"We got lucky as far as we know," said Travis Shelton, a meteorologist in the agency's North Little Rock office. "We dodged a bullet."
The forecast for Pine Bluff and the area included winds of up to 80 mph, but Shelton said the maximum wind in Pine Bluff reached about 40 mph, and in Monticello, about 35 mph, which was enough to knock over a trash can but little else, it appeared.
"It was not quite what we were expecting," Shelton said.
The storm, however, worsened once it crossed the Mississippi River. In Bolivar County, just east of Desha County, wind speeds of 94 mph were recorded, Shelton said.
Shelton said calls were made to several emergency service offices in the area to see if those officials had heard of any damage to the area but nothing had been reported.
"We didn't find anything worth putting in the storm report," Shelton said. "It just didn't develop until it got east and went into Tennessee and Mississippi. There may have been some trees blown down in southeast Arkansas, but that could have been because the ground was saturated and not necessarily because of the wind."
As for rain, Pine Bluff received about an inch, Shelton said, but because it came quickly, some streets that are prone to flooding were inundated briefly.
Pine Bluff, like much of the state, was under a tornado watch during the midday hours Wednesday. The watch was extended until 8 p.m., but conditions improved, and the watch was lifted around the middle of the afternoon.
A suspected tornado hit Springdale early Wednesday. Seven people were injured, two critically, according to published reports. The storm caused damage to houses, businesses and a school.