Arkansas, 2003

Tornado in Arkansas, April 24, 2003

April 24, 2003 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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

The toll

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 24, 2:35 PM CST, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:35 PM CST, 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...AMENDED FOR PRELIMINARY NUMBERS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
335 PM CDT THU APR 24 2003

NOT MUCH TIME TO TALK TODAY...SO I WILL MAKE THIS QUICK.

BIGGEST CONCERN TONIGHT IS SEVERE WEATHER...ESPECIALLY TORNADO
POTENTIAL. GREATEST THREAT WILL BE FROM THE I-30 / US 67-167
CORRIDOR ON EAST TOWARD THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. WILL ADDRESS THESE
ISSUES ACCORDINGLY IN THE ZONES.

ONCE THE DRYLINE MOVES THROUGH...RAIN CHANCES WILL DECREASE. DUE TO
PROXIMITY OF UPPER LOW...STILL A POSSIBILITY OF SOME ISOLATED TSRA
OVER THE NORTH TOMORROW...SO LEFT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS IN THOSE AREAS.

THINGS DRY OUT FRIDAY NIGHT...AS THE COLD FRONT EXITS THE FORECAST
AREA. WEEKEND LOOKS FAIRLY TOLERABLE AS HIGH PRESSURE BRIEFLY BUILDS
IN AND THE FRONT MOVES SOUTH AND STALLS.

STILL LOOKING AT FRONT BACKING NORTH EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH ANOTHER
COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE NORTH. BASICALLY LEFT THE EXTENDED
AS IS...THOUGH CONFIDENCE CONTINUES TO BE LESS THAN STELLAR.

PRELIMINARY ISC GRIDS HAVE BEEN SENT...THOUGH THEY ARE SUBJECT TO
LAST MINUTE REVISIONS. DISCUSSION WILL BE UPDATED LATER TO INCLUDE
PRELIMINARY NUMBERS.

FCSTID =   57
HRO   50  65  47  71 /  50  20  10   5
LIT   56  75  52  74 /  60  10  10   5
HOT   55  74  53  74 /  60  10  10   5
PBF   58  75  53  75 /  60  10  10   5

.LZK...NONE.

57
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 24, 12:57 PM CST, 2 hours 31 minutes before
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-251000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
157 PM CDT THU APR 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
THROUGH 8 PM. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY
THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS ARKANSAS. THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY
DAMAGING HAIL...DAMAGING WIND...AND TORNADOES. THE SEVERE STORMS SHOULD
MOVE EAST OF THE AREA TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL REACH ARKANSAS ON MONDAY AND MAY STALL IN THE
AREA. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY
THROUGH WEDNESDAY DUE TO THIS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN MOST
OF ARKANSAS.

29

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 24, 9:49 AM CST, 5 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
1049 AM CDT THU APR 24 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1040 AM    LITTLE ROCK               AR   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/24/03   PULASKI                        REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR

22
Local storm report, Apr 24, 2:27 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
327 PM CDT THU APR 24 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0300 PM    MCGEHEE                   AR   .75 INCH HAIL
04/24/03   DESHA                          REPORTED BY
                                          POST OFFICE

22
Local storm report, Apr 24, 2:43 PM CST, 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
343 PM CDT THU APR 24 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0300 PM    MC GEHEE                  AR   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/24/03   DESHA                          REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR AND STORM SPOTTER.

0300 PM    MC GEHEE                  AR   WIND DAMAGE
04/24/03   DESHA                          POWER LINES DOWN AND BOAT
                                          SHED COLLAPSED ON A BOAT.
                                          REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR AND STORM SPOTTER.

28
Local storm report, Apr 24, 3:13 PM CST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
413 PM CDT THU APR 24 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0408 PM    5 E OIL TROUGH            AR   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/24/03   INDEPENDENCE                   REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR

28
Local storm report, Apr 24, 3:21 PM CST, 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
421 PM CDT THU APR 24 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0415 PM    6 E OIL TROUGH            AR   .75 INCH HAIL
04/24/03   INDEPENDENCE                    REPORTED BY
                                           STORM SPOTTER

28

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Jackson

When
April 24, 3:28 PM CST to 3:37 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, 6 mi W of Swifton
Rating
F0
Path length
4.5 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
35.817, -91.233

A weak tornado moved from Independence County into Jackson County about 5.5 miles west of Swifton. The tornado traveled to the northeast for approximately 4.5 miles before lifting 5 miles northwest of Swifton. The tornado continued to track along the Black River bottoms. Several trees were pushed over. Also, the tops of some trees along with other large limbs were twisted and broken.

What these are

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.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arkansas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 2003Warnings in Arkansas, April 2003

Sources

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: 5350286.