1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 6, 10:55 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1155 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003 UPDATE TO INCLUDE NEW TORNADO WATCH. WARM AND VERY MOIST AIR REMAINS IN PLACE AND SEE IT HOLDING IN THROUGH THE NIGHT. DO NOT SEE FRONT PENETRATING THE AREA TOO MUCH. RAISED TEMPS AND DEW POINTS THROUGH MIDDAY WEDNESDAY IN RESPONSE. .LZK...NONE
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-071000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 105 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT. A DRY LINE ACROSS EASTERN OKLAHOMA IS EXPECTED TO FOCUS THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON. FORECAST INSTABILITY AND VERTICAL WIND PROFILES SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EASTWARD INTO THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY FOR TORNADOES...PARTICULARLY NORTH A LINE FROM MENA...TO BATESVILLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER NORTHERN ARKANSAS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING ON WEDNESDAY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREAT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON...NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM YELLVILLE TO CLARKSVILLE. STORM ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA OVERNIGHT. 55
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK, AR
1050 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0845 PM PEEL AR WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03 MARION TREES DOWN. REPORTED
BY MEDIA.
0905 PM MOUNTAIN HOME AR WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03 BAXTER TREES DOWN.
REPORTED BY MEDIA.
0905 PM MOUNTAIN HOME AR WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03 BAXTER WIND GUST OF 61 MPH
MEASURED. REPORTED BY
PUBLIC.
0910 PM MOUNTAIN HOME AR 0.88 INCH HAIL
05/06/03 BAXTER REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
0910 PM 7 S MOUNTAIN HOME AR WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03 BAXTER WIND GUST OF 60 MPH
ESTIMATED. REPORTED BY
TRAINED SPOTTER.
0915 PM 7 S MOUNTAIN HOME AR 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/06/03 BAXTER REPORTED BY TRAINED
SPOTTER.
0915 PM 5 NE MOUNTAIN HOME AR WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03 BAXTER TREES DOWN.
REPORTED BY MEDIA.
0925 PM 3 E HENDERSON AR WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03 BAXTER TREES DOWN.
REPORTED BY MEDIA.
46ARZ003>007-012>016-021>024-030>033-037>044-052>054-062345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1134 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003 TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 277 THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT...BUT IT HAS BEEN REPLACED BY TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 279 WHICH COVERS ALL OF ARKANSAS EXCEPT FOR BENTON COUNTY. TORNADO WATCH 279 WILL BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 AM CDT. 29
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:10 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado moved from Dallas County into Hot Spring County about 6 miles southwest of Rolla. The tornado was only on the ground for just under a mile before dissipating. Since the tornado continued to move over rural areas, the only damage noted was a number of trees knocked down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 2003Warnings in Arkansas, May 2003
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: 5361255.