Name: Damaging Wind in Arkansas, August 26, 2003
Start: 2003-08-26T15:10
End: 2003-08-26T15:10
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

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 Aug 26, 1:38 PM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 1:38 PM CST, 1 hour 32 minutes before

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

OUR RADAR NOW INDICATES SOME OF THE STORMS ARE SEVERE. EXPECT STORMS
TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING OVER MOST OF OUR AREA. HIGHER MEAN RH
WEDNESDAY WILL BRING A SIMILAR DEVELOPMENT FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY
AFTERNOONS AND EVENINGS. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING A FEW MORE STORMS
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...SOME OF THESE COULD BECOME SEVERE. MOS GUIDANCE
TEMPS APPEAR REASONABLE.

FCSTID =   38
HRO   71  95  72  94 /  30  40  30  30
LIT   73  96  75  95 /  30  40  30  30
HOT   75  97  75  96 /  30  40  30  30
PBF   75  96  75  95 /  30  40  30  30

.LZK...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 26, 10:55 AM CST, 4 hours 15 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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 26, 2:30 PM CST, 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
330 PM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003

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

0230 PM    LUBER                     AR   .88 INCH HAIL
08/26/03   STONE                          REPORTED BY PUBLIC

0230 PM    LUBER                     AR   WIND DAMAGE
08/26/03   STONE                          RESIDENT SAID WIND BLEW
                                          THE FAN OUT OF HER
                                          WINDOW...CAUSING RAIN TO
                                          BLOW ACROSS HER LIVING
                                          ROOM. REPORTED BY PUBLIC

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 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Fulton

When: August 26, 3:10 PM CST
Where: Fulton County, Salem
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.367, -91.817

Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees on Highway 9N at Salem.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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: 5333384.