Some storms, much needed rainfall

Update:

The National Weather Service in Little Rock has reported that landspout tornado may have briefly touched down Monday afternoon in Lonoke County between Humnoke and Carlisle along Highway 13. The picture below shows the funnel, but does not show it touching the ground.

A landspout does not originate from a super-cell thunderstorm as does a regular tornado. These usually form underneath towering cumulus clouds under the right conditions away from thunderstorms. It is actually caused by the same process that causes a waterspout, but forms over land. Landspouts are usually much weaker than regular tornadoes and do not last very long. No damage was reported. The landspout does count as a tornado, and brings the total tornado count for Arkansas for the year up to 11.

A round of storms Monday afternoon brought much needed rainfall to Central Arkansas, with a few reports of severe weather. Storms were not as strong as Sunday, but some spots were hit by hail and some strong wind gusts. Below is a map of storm reports Monday followed by the descriptions of the reports.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
708 PM CDT MON JUN 04 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0125 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 E WILLIAMS JUNCTION   34.88N 92.74W
06/04/2012                   PULASKI            AR   PUBLIC         

            THUNDERSTORM WINDS BROKE OFF THE TOPS OF SEVERAL OAK
            TREES AT THE PERRY/PULASKI COUNTY LINE.

0340 PM     HEAVY RAIN       1 ENE NORTH LITTLE ROCK 34.79N 92.24W
06/04/2012  M1.50 INCH       PULASKI            AR   AMATEUR RADIO  

            AMATEUR RADIO REPORTED 1.50 INCHES OF RAIN IN 30 MINUTES.


0342 PM     HAIL             3 N LEOLA               34.21N 92.59W
06/04/2012  E1.00 INCH       GRANT              AR   PUBLIC         

            MEMBER OF PUBLIC CALLED AND REPORTED HAIL APPROXIMATELY
            THE SIZE OF QUARTERS.

0344 PM     HAIL             POYEN                   34.32N 92.64W
06/04/2012  E1.00 INCH       GRANT              AR   PUBLIC         

0355 PM     HEAVY RAIN       2 N NORTH LITTLE ROCK   34.82N 92.26W
06/04/2012  M1.15 INCH       PULASKI            AR   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

            BETWEEN 300 PM AND 355 PM CDT 1.15 INCHES OF RAIN FELL AT
            THE NWS OFFICE IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK.

0426 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 N GRAPEVINE           34.16N 92.32W
06/04/2012                   GRANT              AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES ARE DOWN ALONG COUNTY ROAD 16 NORTH OF GRAPEVINE.

0508 PM     TSTM WND DMG     RISON                   33.95N 92.19W
06/04/2012                   CLEVELAND          AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            MANY POWER LINES ARE DOWN ACROSS RISON LEAVING MANY
            PEOPLE WITHOUT POWER.

0529 PM     HAIL             2 W IVAN                33.90N 92.47W
06/04/2012  E1.00 INCH       DALLAS             AR   TRAINED SPOTTER

The storms did bring much needed rainfall to many parts of the State over the last couple of days. Below is a map of rainfall amounts around the State since Sunday morning.

North Little Rock broke its daily rainfall record for the day with 1.36". 1.15" of that rainfall fell in a single hour. Our FOX16 Weatherbug stations across Central Arkansas also reported some decent rainfall totals in a few spots Monday.

The wetter pattern will not last as drier air moves in for the middle of the week behind a weak front. Rain chances will drop to around zero for the rest of the week with afternoon showers not returning until early next week.