Name: Hail in Arkansas, May 10, 2003
Start: 2003-05-10T16:53
End: 2003-05-10T16:53
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 May 10, 2:00 PM CST, 2 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 10, 2:00 PM CST, 2 hours 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
300 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

HAVE SEEN EXPLOSIVE DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE DRYLINE ACRS OK THIS AFTN.
SEVERAL SUPERCELLS NOTED IN ADVANCE OF DEVELOPING SQUALL LINE.
ATMOSPHERE REMAINS PRIMED OVER AR...BUT A CAP IS STILL EVIDENT ON
THE 18Z RAOB HERE AT KLZK...BUT A BIT WEAKER THAN 12Z DATA INDCD.

TO MAKE THINGS SHORT...EXPECT AN ACTIVE NIGHT ACRS THE FA AS
DRYLINE/SFC CDFNT WORK EWD INTO AR. LOOKING AT ISOLD SUPERCELLS INTO
THE EVENING HOURS OVER NWRN AR...WITH ACTIVITY EVENTUALLY EVOLVING
INTO A SQUALL LINE LATER THIS EVENING FOR THE REST OF THE FA. HAVE
ALREADY HIGHLIGHTED THIS TREND AND SVR WX POT IN THE HWO AND ZONES.

FOLLOWED ALONG WITH THE MESOETA FOR THE SHORT TERM PDS. DECIDED TO
GO WITH LIKELY POPS TNGT AHEAD OF FRONT. BNDRY WORKS QUICKLY ACRS AR
LATER TNGT AND WL BE SE OF THE FA BY MID-MRNG SUNDAY. HAVE INDCD
DECREASING POPS IN THE GRIDS FROM NW TO SE LATER TNGT. LEFT
LINGERING SMALL POPS OVER SERN AR FOR SUNDAY MRNG. DRIER AND LESS
HUMID WX TO FOLLOW FOR SUNDAY AFTN.

IN THE EXTENDED...QUIET WX WILL PERSIST INTO TUE. STALLED OUT FNTL
BNDRY TO THE S WL RETURN SLOLY NWD TUE NIGHT AND WED...RESULTING IN
RETURNING RAIN CHCS. UPPER TROF WL BRING A CONTD CHC OF RAIN THRU
THU. DRIER WX TO FOLLOW LATER IN THE WEEK.  ..44..

.LZK...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 10, 11:35 AM CST, 5 hours 18 minutes before

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-111000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1235 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

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

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
OVER MUCH OF ARKANSAS...

...THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN CENTRAL
OKLAHOMA THIS AFTERNOON. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD INTO
ARKANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT. SOME
OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. TORNADOES WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE AS WELL.

PEOPLE IN ARKANSAS NEED TO MONITOR THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER
SITUATION. REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET. LISTEN FOR UPDATES AND
STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...AND BE PREPARED TO
TAKE ACTION IF A WATCH OR WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A WARM FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO ARKANSAS TUESDAY NIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY THEN ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE STATE.
THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM TUESDAY
NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD OCCUR DURING
THIS TIME PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY ACROSS ARKANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT.

57

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 10, 3:52 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
452 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

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

0440 PM    OARK                      AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/10/03   JOHNSON                        REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT

22

Local storm report, May 10, 4:44 PM CST, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
544 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

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

0525 PM    WITTS SPRINGS             AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/10/03   SEARCY                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

0538 PM    MARSHALL                  AR   .75 INCH HAIL
05/10/03   SEARCY                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT

22

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:53 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Johnson

When: May 10, 4:53 PM CST
Where: Johnson County, 2 mi N of Ludwig
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 35.383, -93.433

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, May 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: 5361563.