Arkansas’ ground is saturated and some of its rivers are already high, according to the National Weather Service, creating the potential for flooding this spring.
Meteorologist John Lewis said conditions overall are very similar to 2019, and most locations across the state have seen 3 to 6 inches more rain than normal so far in 2020.
Through March 31, Little Rock and Fayetteville are both about 6.5 inches above average, Texarkana is almost 7.5 inches above average and West Memphis is more than 8 inches above average.
The excess rain has kept the ground saturated, Lewis said, so less water is able to soak in with each shower.
This sends more runoff into rivers, Lewis said. The Cache, Ouachita, Black and White rivers are all already in minor flood stage at multiple points.
Lewis said so far this year, only a few inches have fallen in any single event, staving off major flooding, but April and May are usually the wettest months of the year.
“If you have an event with five or six inches in one shot, you’ve got an issue,” Lewis said.
Lewis said early forecasts indicate the state will continue to see rainfall in the coming weeks.
Aside from high rivers, Lewis said excessive rain could cause problems for agriculture. Soil needs to dry out before farmers can plant, and perpetually saturated soil could push back the start for planting or prevent it altogether.
Lewis said last year's rain left Arkansas as one of the states in the country with the highest number of acres unplanted due to excessive rain.
One major difference between 2019 and 2020, Lewis said, is that the Arkansas River is unlikely to flood like it did last year.
The flooding was caused by extreme rainfall to the north that made its way downstream, Lewis said, and that is unlikely to repeat on such a scale.
He said the Arkansas River is running high, but it is not in flood stage.