Arkansas, 2003Tornado in Arkansas, April 20, 2003
April 20, 2003 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone
1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 19, 8:45 PM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 8:45 PM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
945 PM CDT SAT APR 19 2003
...UPDATE THIS EVENING...
CURRENT FORECAST IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE BUT GRIDS/ZONES WILL NEED TO
UPDATED TO REFLECT CURRENT TRENDS. SHOWERS CONTINUE OVER THE
SOUTHEAST WITH THE OCCASIONAL STRONG STORM STILL HOLDING ON. MAIN
FOCUS WILL BE LINE OF INTENSE CONVECTION MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST
CORNER OF THE STATE. CURRENT THINKING IS MOST WILL MISS THE CWA BUT
IT WILL BE FOLLOWED CLOSELY.
LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES TO MOVE FROM CENTRAL ARKANSAS TOWARDS
SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. STRONG DYNAMICS ALOFT APPEAR TO BE STAYING
PRIMARILY TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE STATE. FRONT WILL PUSH INTO
CENTRAL ARKANSAS BY SUNDAY MORNING AND WILL EDGE SLOWLY EAST DURING
THE DAY. MAIN DYNAMICS/WIND ENERGY WILL RIDE NORTH OF THE STATE
GIVING FRONT LITTLE PUSH. DURING LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON
HOURS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY REDEVELOP IN AREAS MAINLY
SOUTH/EAST OF LITTLE ROCK...WITH MOSTLY DRY WEATHER BEHIND THE
FRONT.
FCSTID = 56
.LZK...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 19, 6:28 PM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes before
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-201000-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
728 PM CDT SAT APR 19 2003
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS.
.DAY ONE...TONIGHT
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS OKLAHOMA DEVELOPED IN ASSOCIATION WITH A COLD
FRONT AND AREA OF LOW PRESSURE ALOFT. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
TO ENTER WESTERN ARKANSAS TONIGHT THEN PUSH FARTHER INTO THE STATE
DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BE
SEVERE...MAINLY OVER WESTERN AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS. THE PRIMARY
SEVERE WEATHER THREATS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY
THE COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE MOVING EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL AND
EASTERN ARKANSAS ON SUNDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE NEAR THE FRONT. ISOLATED STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE OVER
CENTRAL AND EASTERN ARKANSAS...MAINLY DURING THE MORNING AND EARLY
AFTERNOON. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WOULD BE THE MAIN SEVERE
WEATHER THREATS.
THE NEXT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FROM LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY.
.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED OVER PARTS OF WESTERN AND
NORTHERN ARKANSAS TONIGHT.
51
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 19, 11:02 PM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1202 AM CDT SUN APR 20 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1045 PM 2 SW HUNT AR .88 INCH HAIL
04/19/03 JOHNSON REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT
28Tornado, Baxter
- When
- April 20, 12:18 AM CST to 12:23 AM CST
- Where
- Baxter County, 3 mi NE of Henderson
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 3 mi
- Path width
- 75 yd
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 36.400, -92.200
A weak tornado touched down 3 miles northeast of Henderson and traveled to the northeast into Fulton County. The thunderstorm spawning the tornado is the same storm that produced a tornado earlier in Mountain Home. In eastern Baxter County, an old community center which had stood for more than 100 years was flattened. This occurred near the Cumi community. One house had the back portion of its roof damaged. A shed was blown down and several vehicles were damaged by flying tin.
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- High Surf in Florida, April 20, 20032 deaths · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, April 20, 2003$145 million · 1.75 in hail · 12 events
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Tennessee, April 20, 20031 injured · $203,000 · 1.75 in hail · 38 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, April 20, 2003$558,000 · 1 in hail · 19 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, April 20, 2003$77,000 · 1 in hail · 26 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, April 20, 2003$106,000 · 1.75 in hail · 16 events
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Mississippi, April 20, 2003$150,000 · 0.75 in hail · 3 events
- Damaging Winds in Ohio, April 20, 2003$105,000 · 55 kt wind · 3 events
- Tornado and Hail in Kentucky, April 20, 2003$16,000 · F1 · 4 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, April 20, 2003$35,000 · 1.75 in hail · 11 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, April 20, 2003$20,000 · 2 in hail · 18 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Ohio, April 20, 2003$20,000 · 55 kt wind · 12 events
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5350983.