Thunderstorm Wind in Hempstead County, Arkansas

Multiple trees downed south of U.S. Highway 67 in Perrytown.

A line of thunderstorms developed late in the morning on January 5th ahead of an eastward advancing cold front extending across eastern Oklahoma into northeast and central Texas. Ahead of the front, low-level moisture increased with southerly low-level flow across the Ark-La-Tex region. Surface dewpoints in the middle 60s were noted in surface observations from just south of Shreveport southward to the Gulf coast. As a warm front draped across southwest Arkansas into central Louisiana lifted northward through early afternoon, destabilization increased with north and eastward extent. Wind profiles and morning soundings showed strong vertical shear in place, with effective shear magnitudes greater than 35 knots aided by an intense low-level jet near 50 knots overspreading the region. This supported organized, rotating thunderstorms capable of damaging gusts. One such thunderstorm produced isolated damaging wind gusts in Hempstead County in Southwest Arkansas.