Hail — Columbia, Arkansas

2025-03-15 · near Brister, Columbia, Arkansas

Event narrative

Golf ball size hail reported just north of Emerson.

Wider weather episode

Robust thunderstorm development began late in the evening on March 14th through the early morning hours on March 15th along a dryline from the Hot Springs region southward toward Texarkana. Upper air analysis suggested that low to mid-level winds were not quite as strong as compared to areas in Northern Arkansas. However, a strengthening low-level jet sampled by the KLZK (North Little Rock, Arkansas) and KSHV (Shreveport, Louisiana) radars both supported 0-1 km storm relative helicity (SRH) on the order of 200-300 m2/s2. Increasing low-level surface moisture and mixed layer CAPE were supportive of a more volatile environment downstream of the developing convection. Discrete to semi-discrete supercells migrated into this air mass with a severe thunderstorm producing golf ball size hail in near Emerson Columbia County just prior to daybreak on March 15th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.1200, -93.2000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1248000. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.