Thunderstorm Wind in Hempstead County, Arkansas

Trees and power lines downed throughout the city of Hope.

Rapid thunderstorm initiation developed during the afternoon on March 15th as strong ascent occurred when a cold front interacted with a plume of returning surface moisture. Modest surface dew points in the lower to middle 60s amid steep mid-level lapse rates supported 1000-2000 J/kg of MUCAPE. 50+ knots of deep-layer shear also favored storm organization with a mixed mode of supercells and line segments. The surging nature of the front promoted rapid upscale growth into a QLCS before spreading eastward across the Red River Valley and into the Ark-La-Tex region. Strong low and mid-level shear between 200-300 m2/s2 supported embedded supercells, along with QLCS wind gusts. As a result, numerous reports of large hail and damaging wind gusts were recorded across Southwest Arkansas.