Alert archive / Texas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2026
Mesoscale Discussion 521
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 24, 2026, 5:30 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 24, 2026, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 24, 2026, 8:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Concerning
- Tornado watch 141
All 38 counties
Columbia County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Howard County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Little River County, AR, Miller County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Pike County, AR, Polk County, AR, Sevier County, AR, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Atoka County, OK, Bryan County, OK, Choctaw County, OK, Coal County, OK, Johnston County, OK, Latimer County, OK, Marshall County, OK, McCurtain County, OK, Pushmataha County, OK, Bowie County, TX, Camp County, TX, Cass County, TX, Delta County, TX, Fannin County, TX, Franklin County, TX, Grayson County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Hopkins County, TX, Lamar County, TX, Marion County, TX, Morris County, TX, Red River County, TX, Titus County, TX
The radar
The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 172 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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.
The watches that followed
Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.
The nearest sounding before it
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 243 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
- 1986 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -80 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 599 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 321 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 452 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.2
- Supercell composite
- 11.4
The text
As transmitted.
093
ACUS11 KWNS 242230
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 242230
ARZ000-LAZ000-TXZ000-OKZ000-250100-
Mesoscale Discussion 0521
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
0530 PM CDT Fri Apr 24 2026
Areas affected...from southeast Oklahoma into the ArkLaTex area
Concerning...Tornado Watch 141...
Valid 242230Z - 250100Z
The severe weather threat for Tornado Watch 141 continues.
SUMMARY...A narrow corridor of tornado risk is evident over
southeast Oklahoma, with threat expanding southeastward toward the
ArkLaTex this evening. Damaging winds and hail will also be likely.
DISCUSSION...Severe storms persist near the synoptic cold front from
south of Ft. Smith into southeast OK. Intersecting this front is an
outflow boundary which is pushing west/southwest out of AR and into
northeast TX and northern LA. This same boundary appears to be
hanging up over southeast OK ahead of the severe storms.
The tornadic supercell over southern Pittsburg County is moving
toward Pushmataha County, which is near the intersecting boundaries.
Low-level shear in this area, as well as into northeast TX/southwest
AR is sufficient to support tornadoes with 0-1 SRH over 100 m2/s2.
The air mass is very moist and unstable, with deep-layer shear
around 50 kt aiding storm longevity.
As such, these cells may continue to pose a tornado risk as they
interact with the outflow boundary to the southeast. Other cells to
the west may contain hail and damaging winds, with cells north of
the outflow also producing hail into AR.
..Jewell.. 04/24/2026
...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov for graphic product...
ATTN...WFO...LZK...SHV...TSA...FWD...OUN...
LAT...LON 34899540 34899424 34559360 33949313 33159273 32439315
32369383 32479429 32999543 33229651 33609704 34149716
34469676 34899540
MOST PROBABLE PEAK TORNADO INTENSITY...100-125 MPH
MOST PROBABLE PEAK WIND GUST...55-70 MPH
MOST PROBABLE PEAK HAIL SIZE...2.00-3.50 INSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 9:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Benton, Carroll, Madison, Washington | 6 hr |
| Apr 23, 11:50 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Benton | 115 min |
| Apr 24, 2:00 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin and 6 more | 90 min |
| Apr 24, 1:20 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Little River, Sevier | 115 min |
| Apr 24, 1:55 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Hempstead, Howard, Lafayette, Little River, Miller, Polk and 1 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 24, 2:36 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Chicot, Union | 114 min |
| Apr 23, 8:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Garfield, Kay, Noble, Osage, Pawnee | 2 hr |
| Apr 24, 11:50 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Coal, Garvin, Hughes and 7 more | 115 min |
| Apr 24, 3:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atoka, Coal, Garvin, Johnston, Murray, Pontotoc | 95 min |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in Texas, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Arkansas, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Oklahoma, 2026Every mesoscale discussion in 2026
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.