Hail in Arkansas, April 15 to 16, 1998

Summary of events for April 15-16 1998:Two rounds of severe weather affected northwest and westcentral Arkansas during this event: the first was during the early to mid-evening of April 15; the second was during the early morning hours of April 16.A broken line of severe thunderstorms, primarily producing dime to nickel-sized hail, developed late on the afternoon of April 15 along a Pacific cold front moving into Arkansas from the northwest. The first thunderstorms developed over eastcentral Oklahoma during the late afternoon. They quickly moved into and across northwest Arkansas from Springdale to Eureka Springs between 600 and 715 PM CDT. The front continued to light up with thunderstorm activity as it moved southward into westcentral Arkansas from 730 to 930 PM CDT. One particularly strong storm moved across Sebastian County between 845 and 930 PM CDT, producing numerous reports of nickel-sized hail through the central part of the county, but this storm weakened below severe limits as it moved into Franklin County.The second round of severe storms moved across western Arkansas between 345 and 515 AM CDT, producing dime to quarter-sized hail. These storms mainly affected Crawford, Madison, and southern Washington Counties.