Alert archive / Arkansas / Tornado Watches in 2026
Tornado Watch 166
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 27, 2026, 8:23 PM CDT for 34 counties in Arkansas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 27, 2026, 8:23 PM CDT (01:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 2026, 2:46 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 34 counties
Baxter County, AR, Boone County, AR, Cleburne County, AR, Conway County, AR, Faulkner County, AR, Fulton County, AR, Garland County, AR, Hot Spring County, AR, Independence County, AR, Izard County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Johnson County, AR, Lawrence County, AR, Logan County, AR, Lonoke County, AR, Marion County, AR, Monroe County, AR, Montgomery County, AR, Newton County, AR, Perry County, AR, Polk County, AR, Pope County, AR, Prairie County, AR, Pulaski County, AR, Randolph County, AR, Saline County, AR, Scott County, AR, Searcy County, AR, Sharp County, AR, Stone County, AR, Van Buren County, AR, White County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Yell County, AR
The radar
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:25 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 40%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 60%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 8:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Fulton, Sharp | 43 min |
| Apr 27, 8:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Randolph, Sharp | 38 min |
| Apr 27, 9:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Fulton, Randolph, Sharp | 45 min |
| Apr 27, 9:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Baxter, Fulton, Izard, Randolph, Sharp | 44 min |
| Apr 27, 9:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Randolph | 29 min |
| Apr 27, 9:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Izard, Searcy, Stone | 39 min |
| Apr 27, 9:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Fulton, Izard, Lawrence, Sharp | 50 min |
| Apr 27, 9:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Newton, Pope, Searcy, Van Buren | 38 min |
| Apr 27, 10:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Fulton, Izard, Lawrence, Sharp | 39 min |
| Apr 27, 10:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Izard, Stone | 50 min |
| Apr 27, 10:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Randolph | 8 min |
| Apr 27, 10:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp | 17 min |
| Apr 27, 10:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp | 41 min |
| Apr 27, 10:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Cleburne, Independence, Stone | 46 min |
| Apr 27, 11:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, Lawrence, Sharp | 30 min |
| Apr 27, 11:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Lawrence, Randolph | 52 min |
| Apr 27, 11:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson | 45 min |
| Apr 27, 11:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson | 22 min |
| Apr 28, 12:29 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, White, Woodruff | 46 min |
| Apr 28, 1:04 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK | Independence, Jackson, White, Woodruff | 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
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 216 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
- 597 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1578 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 66 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -47 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 102 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.1
- Supercell composite
- -1.1
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 7:23 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Conway, Faulkner, Fulton and 17 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 27, 8:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Fulton, Randolph | 2 hr |
| Apr 27, 9:48 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lee and 4 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 27, 10:09 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Cleburne, Craighead, Greene, Independence, Jackson and 8 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 27, 10:46 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cleburne, Independence, Jackson, Stone | 59 min |
| Apr 28, 1:00 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crittenden, Cross, Jackson, Mississippi, Poinsett, Woodruff | 2 hr |
| Apr 28, 9:33 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bradley, Calhoun, Clark, Cleveland, Columbia, Dallas and 20 more | 117 min |
| Apr 28, 10:01 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Fulton and 7 more | 119 min |
| Apr 28, 10:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Fulton and 13 more | 9 hr |
| Apr 28, 10:45 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 40 more | 8 hr |
| Apr 28, 1:08 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Cleburne, Fulton and 11 more | 2 hr |
| Apr 28, 1:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ashley, Chicot | 65 min |
| Apr 28, 1:54 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ashley, Chicot | 8 hr |
| Apr 28, 2:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Lee, Mississippi, Phillips and 2 more | 57 min |
| Apr 28, 2:32 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Greene, Lee and 4 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 28, 3:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark and 37 more | 117 min |
| Apr 28, 4:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Fulton and 8 more | 87 min |
| Apr 28, 5:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay | 94 min |
| Apr 28, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arkansas, Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Clark and 50 more | 7 hr |
| Apr 28, 5:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baxter, Boone, Clark, Conway, Franklin, Garland and 20 more | 113 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 2026Every tornado watch 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.