Storms, Rain Move Out, Leave Impact

After nearly a month without rain, the last five days have seen plenty of precipitation with some storms ripping through the region as well. 

After the first wave of storms Halloween morning that caused damage in the Kirbyville and Mildred areas, more rounds of storms followed, especially Monday evening with several Tornado Warnings issued and heavy rain continuing. Tornado Warnings were in effect for areas of southeastern Taney County around Protem as well as northwestern Taney County near Chestnut Ridge. Areas around Table Rock Lake including Kimberling City, Branson West and Reeds Spring were under warnings for a time as well. Warnings were also issued in Arkansas for parts of Boone and Marion Counties. 

The storms have caused power outages around the region with White River Valley Electric still reporting scattered outages this morning with the most in Douglas and Ozark Counties. Entergy is also reporting some scattered outages in Boone and Marion Counties including a few around Harrison with Carroll Electric Cooperative reporting around 800 outages mostly in Benton and Carroll Counties with several outages as well in Madison and Newton Counties. 

According to information collected by Ozarks First, most of the Lakes Region has seen three to four inches of rain since Halloween with some areas in northern Arkansas around Berryville and Harrison reporting as much as seven inches. The totals do not include the Monday night rain with some areas expecting another two or more inches of rain. Several roads in both states have been closed during the heavy rain due to water over the road. As of Tuesday morning, the Missouri Department of Transportation showed J Highway near JJ was closed while several low water crossings in the region were also closed. 

The USGS is reporting that most of the Buffalo National River is at Flood Stage after the rain moved through. 

Heavy rain also had impacts in other areas. The heavy flooding closed several schools Tuesday including Alpena, Bradleyville, Harrison, and Ozark Mountain as well as classes at North Arkansas College in Harrison. 

Rain is exiting the area this morning with a dry period for the next few days with highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s.