6:30 PM Wednesday Update...  With little to no rain in the forecast for the rest of the month, we will more than likely end May 2009 with an incredible 13.06 inches in Little Rock which makes it the THIRD wettest in recorded weather history.

3:30 PM Wednesday Update... The front is working through the state and a few storms are becoming severe.  Intense penny size hail was reported in Melbourne (Izard county).  Here's a picture looking to the southwest from my place.  You can see the big storm clouds building over Saline county.

9 AM Tuesday Update...  We are .19 away from becoming the second wettest May in Little Rock recorded history.  As of Tuesday morning, 13.06 inches has fallen.  The second wettest May right now is 13.25 inches set back in 1893.  The wettest May ever was 15.91 inches in 1882. 

I hope everyone was able to enjoy Memorial Day with friends and family.  Andria and I had the whole family over for a cook out.  I was able to grill the hamburgers and hot dogs before a shower moved into our area.  Most of the rain yesterday fell across eastern Arkansas.  I'll talk more about the upcoming weather pattern soon.  Below is a picture of "Uncle Todd" with his wife, nieces, and nephew.

8:30 AM Monday Update... Our monthly total is now 12.90 inches making it the 3rd wettest May in recorded weather history in Little Rock.  We are now only .35 away from making it the 2nd wettest.  I'll keep you updated.

9:40 PM Sunday Update...  It has been an active night with flooding and tornado warnings.  Earlier this evening, a couple of tornado warnings were issued for extreme northeast Mississippi county.  Our 5 live dopplers indicated the circulation would stay out of Arkansas and it did.  Later a funnel cloud was reported in Poinsett county with a separate storm.  As of Sunday evening, we have not heard of any touchdowns or damage.  Tropical systems can produce weak spin ups east of the circulation center as it did tonight.  They are not your typical thunderstorms and any tornadoes they produce are more than likely very weak.  Nevertheless, you must take cover when a warning is issued.  You may have noticed our new crawl system here on Channel 7.  It has the ability to go county by county with radar in the corner of your screen.  The new system is HD and looks great over HD programming.

As of 9 PM, Little Rock is only .08 inches away from having the 3rd wettest May on record.  It's possible to obtain that status tonight or tomorrow.  I'll keep you updated.

4:30 PM Sunday Update... We broke a daily rainfall record in Little Rock with 1.79 inches and in North Little Rock 2.07 inches.  Also, here's some more info. on our monthly totals.  You can see in Little Rock, with more rain in the forecast, it's possible this will become the 3rd wettest May on record.  For North Little Rock, we shattered the old record.  Records in Little Rock go back to 1879 and in North Little Rock, 1978.

2:15 PM Sunday Update... The back edge is now working through downtown Little Rock.

1:30 PM Sunday Update... The back edge of the steady rain is now entering Pulaski county.  This means the rainfall should become more scattered as we go throughout the afternoon as expected.

Noon Sunday Update... According to my numbers this morning, it's now the 4th wettest May on record for Little Rock.

For North Little Rock, it's now the WETTEST May on record.

I still expect the rain to become more scattered for central and eastern Arkansas this afternoon.

11 AM Sunday Update... I'm still watching the radar and the rain keeps filling in and working across central Arkansas.  I still think there's a ray of hope for some drier weather, but it may not occur until later this afternoon.  I'll keep you updated.

9 AM Sunday Update... Just woke up to a rainy Sunday morning and didn't want to get out of bed.  Looking at the radar this morning, I noticed the obvious, huge shield of rain working across the state.  The back end of it may work through Little Rock late this morning so there is SOME hope for drying.  Scattered showers and storms should develop this afternoon, especially if we get any breaks in the clouds.

It's hard to believe another year has gone by and Riverfest is here again.  The chance for rain is definitely there as an area of low pressure pumps tropical moisture into the state.  The best chance for these hit and miss showers and storms will be during the afternoon and early evening hours.  Some could produce locally heavy rainfall. 

You may remember I had a little fun with a graphic last year because it was so hot and humid.  Going down to Riverfest, I would sweat buckets.  I figured out how much sweat there would be basing it from a typical person.  Check out the graphics below and try not to be too disgusted.   Remember to drink plenty of water even though it shouldn't be too unbearable.