Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2025
Tornado Watch 156
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 20, 2025, 5:39 PM CDT for 28 counties in Arkansas; Dunklin County, Pemiscot County, Missouri. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 20, 2025, 5:39 PM CDT (22:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 21, 2025, 12:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 30 counties
Arkansas County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Clay County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Greene County, AR, Independence County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Lee County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Sharp County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Dunklin County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 50%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
27 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 20, 5:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Baxter, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Marion, Searcy and 3 more | 46 min |
| Apr 20, 6:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Clark, Dallas, Faulkner, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring and 4 more | 50 min |
| Apr 20, 6:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleburne, Faulkner, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lonoke and 6 more | 49 min |
| Apr 20, 6:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Independence, Izard, Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp and 1 more | 44 min |
| Apr 20, 6:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski | 38 min |
| Apr 20, 6:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski, White | 39 min |
| Apr 20, 6:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski, Saline | 52 min |
| Apr 20, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleburne, Independence, Jackson, White | 33 min |
| Apr 20, 6:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski, White | 29 min |
| Apr 20, 7:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Izard, Lawrence, Sharp, Stone | 54 min |
| Apr 20, 7:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Izard, Randolph, Sharp | 51 min |
| Apr 20, 7:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, White | 42 min |
| Apr 20, 7:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | White | 50 min |
| Apr 20, 7:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lonoke, Prairie, White | 44 min |
| Apr 20, 7:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp | 50 min |
| Apr 20, 7:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, White, Woodruff | 38 min |
| Apr 20, 7:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Cleveland, Dallas, Grant, Jefferson | 46 min |
| Apr 20, 7:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, Lawrence | 46 min |
| Apr 20, 8:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Lawrence, Randolph | 32 min |
| Apr 20, 8:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Calhoun, Dallas, Ouachita | 40 min |
| Apr 20, 8:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, Lawrence, White, Woodruff | 51 min |
| Apr 20, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lonoke, Monroe, Prairie, White, Woodruff | 77 min |
| Apr 20, 8:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Clay, Greene | 52 min |
| Apr 20, 8:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Lawrence, Randolph | 16 min |
| Apr 20, 8:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Ouachita | 48 min |
| Apr 20, 9:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG | Clay | 49 min |
| Apr 20, 11:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MEG | Pemiscot | 38 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 102 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 320 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 745 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 125 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 188 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.2
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 19, 10:39 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Crawford, Washington | 66 min |
| Apr 19, 11:33 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson and 6 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 20, 1:22 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Johnson and 6 more | 53 min |
| Apr 20, 12:03 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Cleburne and 39 more | 9 hr |
| Apr 20, 12:17 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Conway and 29 more | 118 min |
| Apr 20, 2:46 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Conway and 18 more | 89 min |
| Apr 20, 5:07 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot and 50 more | 53 min |
| Apr 20, 2:26 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Barry, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Douglas, Greene and 10 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 20, 3:54 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barry, Christian, Dallas, Douglas, Greene, Laclede and 7 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 20, 2:20 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Audrain, Bollinger, Boone, Butler, Callaway, Cape Girardeau and 40 more | 115 min |
| Apr 20, 2:23 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Audrain, Barton, Benton, Boone, Callaway, Camden and 19 more | 97 min |
| Apr 20, 3:41 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Clark, Crawford and 28 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 20, 5:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Carter, Clark, Cole and 38 more | 95 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2025Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2025Every tornado watch in 2025
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.