Arkansas Storm Team Blog: 7th driest year on record to date

It’s been a bone-dry year in Arkansas. It’s now the 7th driest year on record in Little Rock since record-keeping began in 1875, as of April 20.

24 days so far this year in Little Rock have received measurable rainfall. 12 days received a trace amount of rain, meaning there were no rainfall measurements to report (it was too little to record), as it was just a sprinkle or a few spits.

Only 4 days have received an inch or more of rain so far this year. Those occurred on April 4, March 7, February 14, and January 24. January’s “rain” was really winter precipitation.

April is usually the rainiest month of the year in Arkansas. In Little Rock, April on average receives 5.59 inches of rainfall. So far this April, as of April 20, Little Rock has only recorded 1.17″ of rain for the month.

The rainfall deficit over the last 6 months is well over a foot for much of Arkansas, including Little Rock, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, and Harrison.

Spring is the rainy season, and summer is the dry season. If rain isn’t recorded soon, the drought will persist into the summer. In fact, the latest seasonal drought outlook shows that while some areas of Arkansas could see improvements, the drought continues into July.

To fully end the drought, parts of central and northeast Arkansas need more than 25 inches of rain over the next 3 months. Parts of northwest Arkansas need between 15 and 20 inches of rain over the next 3 months. The rest of the state needs between 20 and 25 inches of rain over the next 3 months. All of this rain would need to be received slowly, not all at one time.

The odds of receiving this much rain slowly over the next 3 months are very low.