Name: Hail in Arkansas, August 3, 2003
Start: 2003-08-03T09:40
End: 2003-08-03T19:20
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: $8,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 3, 9:30 AM CST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 9:30 AM CST, 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1030 AM CDT SUN AUG 3 2003

RADAR SHOWING SHRA/TSRA STARTING TO POP UP IN SOUTHWESTERN ZONES.
THIS AREA WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE TO SEE PRECIP AS IT WILL BE
CLOSER TO THE SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH...SO WILL RAISE POPS TO 50.
REST OF FORECAST IS ON TRACK...ALTHOUGH WILL UPDATE TO REMOVE
MENTION OF FOG. UPDATE WILL BE OUT SHORTLY.

.MEG...NONE.

KRS

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 3, 3:34 AM CST, 6 hours 6 minutes before

ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017-
020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-040930-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
434 AM CDT SUN AUG 3 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTH
MISSISSIPPI...WEST TENNESSEE AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER. THE MOST FAVORABLE TIME
WILL TO BE LATE TONIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT.
THE MOST FAVORABLE CONDITIONS WILL BE MONDAY MORNING. THE MAIN
THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER
DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR
WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MEG.

JCL

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, St. Francis

When: August 3, 9:40 AM CST to 9:45 AM CST
Where: St. Francis County, Madison
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Property damage: $50
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.017, -90.717

Hail, Randolph

When: August 3, 6:55 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Randolph County, Fender
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Property damage: $8,000
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 36.183, -90.900

Hail, Lawrence

When: August 3, 7:05 PM CST to 7:20 PM CST
Where: Lawrence County, 6 mi N of Walnut Ridge
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Property damage: $300
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.150, -90.950

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: 5377076, 5377077, 5377078.