Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2025

Tornado Watch 625

October 18, 202520 counties in Arkansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 18, 2025, 3:21 PM CDT for 20 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 18, 2025, 3:21 PM CDT (20:21 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 2025, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Arkansas County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Clark County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Cleveland County, AR, Dallas County, AR, Desha County, AR, Drew County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Grant County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Jefferson County, AR, Lincoln County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Saline County, AR, White County, AR

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 26 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:21 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
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
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
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

12 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 3:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKClark, Dallas, Grant, Hot Spring50 min
Oct 18, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKConway, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Saline, Yell30 min
Oct 18, 3:51 PM CDTTornado WarningLZKClark, Garland, Hot Spring18 min
Oct 18, 3:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleburne, Conway, Pope, Van Buren34 min
Oct 18, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGarland, Hot Spring, Saline31 min
Oct 18, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKClark, Dallas, Grant, Hot Spring, Ouachita52 min
Oct 18, 4:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKGrant, Hot Spring, Jefferson, Pulaski, Saline39 min
Oct 18, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCalhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Dallas, Ouachita26 min
Oct 18, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Dallas, Drew, Ouachita50 min
Oct 18, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKBradley, Calhoun, Cleveland26 min
Oct 18, 5:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKCleveland, Drew, Lincoln19 min
Oct 18, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZKArkansas, Cleveland, Desha, Jefferson, Lincoln, Lonoke and 3 more43 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 294 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2025-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1043 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2025-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 241 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1043 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-133 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1203 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 9:23 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Carroll, Crawford, Madison, Sebastian, Washington2 hr
Oct 18, 11:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Conway, Crawford and 21 more7 hr
Oct 18, 12:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHempstead, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Sevier67 min
Oct 18, 1:20 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCColumbia, Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller and 3 more11 hr
Oct 18, 2:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton and 16 more2 hr
Oct 18, 4:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas, Grant and 4 more2 hr
Oct 18, 4:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Craighead, Greene, Independence, Lawrence, Mississippi and 2 more87 min
Oct 18, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCrittenden, Cross, Lee, Phillips, St. Francis6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 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.