Biggest Weather Event of the Decade

#1 Albert Pike Recreation Area Flash Flood

In the middle of a drought, we had the biggest flash flooding disaster in Arkansas history during the early morning hours of June 11th, 2010. 20 people died.

An area of low pressure was cut off from the main flow over Texas.  The weak upper level winds in the region would not allow the disturbance to move in and out.  Instead, the slow movement of the system produced showers and thunderstorms which dumped copious amounts of rainfall.  This along with plenty available moisture allowed rainfall rates to reach 2-3 inches per hour.

During the early morning hours on Friday June 11th, the low began to move into western Arkansas. Rain developed and trained over the same area for several hours in southwestern Montgomery county.  There were several conditions that came together to make this an extremely deadly event for people at the Albert Pike Recreation Area.

1) Campers were asleep and not aware of the watches and warnings in the middle of the night.

2) Rainfall rates were extremely high over several hours.

3) Water run off from the mountains surrounding the camp site caused a rapid river rise.