Hail — Izard, Arkansas

2020-03-12 · near Horseshoe Bend, Izard, Arkansas

Wider weather episode

Early on the 11th, a front was parked over southern Arkansas, with a storm system approaching from the west. The system set off a large area of showers and thunderstorms in Kansas that tracked along and north of the front through northeast Oklahoma and into our neck of the woods.

Between 600 am and 800 am CDT on the 11th, severe storms cranked out quarter size hail at Jerusalem (Conway County) and just northwest of Walnut (Newton County). At least 2.00 inches of rain was unleashed from the clouds at Center Hill (White County), with 1.98 inches at Damascus (Van Buren County).

The front exited to the north on the 12th, and it warmed up markedly. Afternoon temperatures were in the 70s and 80s. Readings peaked at 88 degrees in Fort Smith (Sebastian County), 85 degrees at Fayetteville (Washington County), and 84 degrees at Harrison (Boone County).

So much warmth destabilized the atmosphere. All that was needed was a trigger to spark more thunderstorms. In this case, the trigger was a new cold front surging into the region from the Plains.

Scattered severe storms bubbled up across the northern and western counties. A couple of storms showed signs of rotation (supercells) from Fulton into Sharp Counties (in the Ozark Mountains), and from Polk into Montgomery Counties (in the Ouachita Mountains). Fortunately, no tornadoes were spawned. Instead, there was large hail.

Up to golf ball size hail pelted locations near Ash Flat (Sharp County), with ping pong ball size hail close to Pearcy (Garland County), and half dollar size hail at Fawn Park (Baxter County), Horseshoe Bend (Izard County), and Pine Ridge (Montgomery County).

Storms on the 12th consolidated south of Little Rock (Pulaski County) and became widespread during the overnight hours. One to more than two inches of rain was measured at Antoine (Pike County), Cane Creek State Park (Lincoln County), Fordyce (Dallas County), Monticello (Drew County), Mount Ida (Montgomery County), Murfreesboro (Pike County), Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), and Pine Ridge (Montgomery County).

The front eventually came to a halt over northern Louisiana, and much cooler air followed. By the 14th, high temperatures were only in the 40s and 50s in the northern half of the state. It was only 43 degrees at Harrison (Boone County) and Mountain Home (Baxter County), and 46 degrees at Newport (Jackson County). Meanwhile, readings were in the 70s across the far south.

North of the front, a narrow band of heavy rain (two to three inch amounts) setup from around North Little Rock (Pulaski County) to Cabot (Lonoke County), and Des Arc (Prairie County). Hit and miss thunderstorms deposited quarter size hail near Pleasant Valley (Perry County), and pennies at Cabot (Lonoke County).

For the event (ninety six hour time frame ending at 600 am CST on the 15th), one to more than three inches of precipitation was common in Arkansas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.2200, -91.7400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 880211. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.