August was the wettest August on record for Texarkana, according to the National Weather Service in Little Rock. Texarkana received 13.11 inches of rain.
"It's been very unusual. This is a strange pattern we are in," said Travis Shelton, meteorologist with the NWS Little Rock office.
This August surpassed August 1915, which had 12.87 inches of rain according to NWS. The wettest August after that was in 1970 when 9.69 inches of rain fell. The amount of precipitation was about 4 to 10 inches above normal for most locations, according to the NWS.
Photo Gallery
Gallery of Hope
The Candlelighters of Central Arkansas promote awareness of childhood cancer and provide assistance to their families. Patrons gathered to enjoy art and cocktails at the annual Gallery of Hope gala at the Peabody Hotel. Entertainment included auctions and live music by the Rodney Block Jazz Project.
Shelton said an air pattern from the northwest is the reason for much of the rain.
"These come from the southwest normally, and we are getting them from the northwest this year," he said.
On August 12, Texarkana received more than 7 inches of rain in one day, resulting in widespread flooding.
The rain was from an upper level disturbance that ran into a front as it moved from Oklahoma into the west and southwest. The slow-moving cluster of storms lead to rain falling over the southwestern fourth of the state for about 12 hours.
Radar estimated rainfall totals ranged from about five to almost 10 inches of rain in parts of southwest Arkansas.
In Texarkana, Arkansas, Nix Creek overflowed and between 30 and 40 residents had to be evacuated from a local apartment complex.
One day rainfall records were broken that day in Miller County (7.43 inches) and Howard County (6.50).
Sevier County and Little River County also received a large amount of rain and flash flooding that day.
According to the NWS, Sevier County received 13.5 inches of rain in August.
Hurricane Laura brought more heavy rain and flooding to Arkansas as the hurricane moved inland as a tropical storm. Some areas of Southwest Arkansas received several more inches from Laura, but the impact was not as bad as feared. Laura took an eastward path, sparing Texarkana the worst of the tropical storm conditions.