Name: Hail in Arkansas, August 26, 2003
Start: 2003-08-26T13:15
End: 2003-08-26T13:15
Location: Arkansas

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

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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 Aug 26, 11:15 AM CST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 11:15 AM CST, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1215 PM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003

TEMPERATURES CLIMBING A LITTLE MORE THAN EXPECTED LATE THIS MORNING.
LIFTED READINGS A BIT THIS AFTERNOON...WITH MOST AREAS IN THE MID
90S TO AROUND 100 DEGREES.

MOISTURE HAS INCREASED SOMEWHAT TODAY WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE
HEADING EAST OF THE REGION. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE CAPE VALUES ABOVE
4000 J/KG AND PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ABOVE 2 INCHES AT LIT AS OF
12Z. GIVEN THIS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING
THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE ISOLATED
SEVERE WEATHER...WITH STRONG/DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE.

LOOKING AHEAD...PATTERN SHOWING A CONTINUATION OF FAIRLY HIGH
MOISTURE VALUES. RIDGING ALOFT ALSO WEAKENING...LEADING TO BETTER
CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION. NOT LOOKING FOR ANYTHING WIDESPREAD...BUT
SCATTERED THUNDER IN FORECAST IS MORE THAN HAS OCCURRED RECENTLY.

TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK...A COLD FRONT WILL ARRIVE FROM THE
NORTH. MOISTURE WITH THE FRONT LOOKS SIGNIFICANT...WITH MORE CLOUDS
AROUND. HOWEVER...LEERY HOW FAR SOUTH THE FRONT WILL GO. SHOULD THE
FRONT HANG UP...MOST SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL WOULD OCCUR ACROSS
NORTHERN ARKANSAS WITH NOT MUCH COOLING FARTHER SOUTH. WILL EVALUATE
LATEST DATA TO GET A BETTER HANDLE ON SITUATION. (46)

.LZK...HEAT ADVISORY TODAY CENTRAL AND SOUTH
         ZONES 21-22-30>34-37>47-52>57-62>69

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 26, 10:55 AM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes before

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-271000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1155 AM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN
ARKANSAS. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 90S...AND
WITH HIGH HUMIDITY LEVELS...HEAT INDEX VALUES OF 105 TO 110 CAN BE
EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. PEOPLE PLANNING TO BE OUTDOORS TODAY WILL
NEED TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO AVOID HEAT RELATED ILLNESS.

DURING THE HEAT OF THE AFTERNOON...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME
UNSTABLE WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING. THIS WILL MAINLY
OCCUR IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ARKANSAS. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY
BECOME SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH LABOR DAY

HOT AND HUMID WEATHER WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY. HOWEVER...WITH
HIGHER MOISTURE LEVELS...AFTERNOON CLOUDS AND COVERAGE OF
THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE. THIS WILL HELP KEEP THE HEAT AND
HUMIDITY IN CHECK...BUT HEAT INDICES WILL STILL EXCEED 100 DEGREES.

A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA FRIDAY...AND COULD BRING RELIEF
FROM THE HEAT...AS WELL AS MUCH NEEDED RAINFALL. THE LATEST DATA
INDICATE A SLOWER MOVEMENT TO THE FRONT...SO DETAILS WILL BE GIVEN
AS MORE DATA BECOMES AVAILABLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

46

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:13 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Newton

When: August 26, 1:15 PM CST
Where: Newton County, Western Grove
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: BROADCAST MEDIA
Coordinates: 36.100, -92.950

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arkansas in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, August 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: 5333377.