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 Apr 21, 1:30 PM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 230 PM CDT WED APR 21 2004 .DISCUSSION... A WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT. THIS WILL SEND A SERIES OF SHORT WAVES TOWARDS ARKANSAS. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS MANY AREAS OF ARKANSAS TONIGHT. SOME STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN SECTIONS TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY...THEN THE AREA OF MODERATE RISK GROWS TO COVER MOST OF ARKANSAS THURSDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE SURROUNDING THE MODERATE RISK AREA WHICH COVERS ALL OF ARKANSAS FOR DAY 1 AND MOST OF THE STATE ON DAY 2. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE BY DAY 3. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... LITTLE ROCK AR 60 77 63 75 / 60 40 40 40 HARRISON AR 55 69 56 68 / 80 50 60 60 HOT SPRINGS AR 61 76 63 75 / 60 30 40 40 PINE BLUFF AR 62 78 64 79 / 50 30 30 40 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 57 70 57 70 / 70 50 60 60 MONTICELLO AR 63 79 65 81 / 50 30 20 30 SEARCY AR 60 77 61 75 / 70 40 40 40 MOUNT IDA AR 60 75 63 74 / 60 40 40 50 RUSSELLVILLE AR 60 74 60 74 / 70 40 40 50 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && 38
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 1108 AM CDT WED APR 21 2004 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-221000- ARKANSAS-BAXTER-BOONE-BRADLEY-CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND- CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER-FULTON-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING- INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE- MARION-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-NEWTON-OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE-POLK-POPE- PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-SEARCY-SHARP-STONE-VAN BUREN-WHITE- WOODRUFF-YELL- 1108 AM CDT WED APR 21 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN ARKANSAS TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE REMAINDER OF ARKANSAS TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL ARKANSAS THROUGH THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS...AND WILL WEAKEN AS THEY PUSH INTO THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES. THERE WILL BE A LULL LATER THIS AFTERNOON BEFORE THUNDERSTORMS REDEVELOP TONIGHT. A SYSTEM ALOFT WILL HEAD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. THE SYSTEM WILL INTERACT WITH A DRY LINE IN CENTRAL OKLAHOMA...OR A BOUNDARY SEPARATING MOIST AIR TO ITS EAST FROM MUCH DRIER AIR TO ITS WEST. THE INTERACTION WILL TRIGGER SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS...WITH SEVERE STORMS LIKELY. STORMS THAT DEVELOP IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN OKLAHOMA WILL TRACK INTO WESTERN ARKANSAS TONIGHT. STORMS THAT BECOME SEVERE WILL PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES. THE STORMS WILL CONTINUE MOVING NORTHEAST...AND WILL ARRIVE IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES AFTER MIDNIGHT. WITH A STALLED FRONT NEAR THE ARKANSAS AND MISSOURI BORDER...THE FRONT WILL ACT AS A FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN MAY OCCUR...WITH LOCALLY HEAVIER AMOUNTS. THE REGION MOST PRONE TO SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAINFALL TONIGHT INCLUDES AREAS NORTH AND WEST OF MENA...MORRILTON AND HARDY. ELSEWHERE ACROSS ARKANSAS...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MORE SCATTERED WITH LESS OF A POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN. HOWEVER...ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS MAY STILL OCCUR...WITH MAINLY LARGE HAIL POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY STORMS THAT DEVELOP TONIGHT WILL EXIT THE STATE INTO MISSOURI THURSDAY MORNING. THERE WILL BE ANOTHER LULL THURSDAY AFTERNOON...WITH MORE STORMS IN THE FORECAST THURSDAY NIGHT. THE WEATHER PATTERN WILL NOT CHANGE THROUGH AT LEAST SATURDAY. A FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN STALLED ACROSS NORTHERN ARKANSAS. GIVEN THIS...STORMS THAT DEVELOP THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK WILL BE MOST LIKELY ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE. THE STORMS THAT ARE EXPECTED WILL OCCUR MAINLY AT NIGHT...WITH STORMS MENTIONED THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY NIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER WILL REMAIN A POSSIBILITY...WITH AREAS OF HEAVY TO EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. FLASH FLOODING MAY OCCUR IN SOME SPOTS. THE PATTERN WILL FINALLY CHANGE THIS WEEKEND. A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE REGION FROM THE WEST SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...WITH COOLER AND DRIER AIR TO FOLLOW MONDAY AND TUESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT IN NORTHERN AND WESTERN ARKANSAS. 46
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
103 PM CDT WED APR 21 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0715 AM LIGHTNING CONWAY 35.09N 92.45W
04/21/2004 FAULKNER AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
*** 1 FATAL *** 17 YEAR-OLD MALE WAITING FOR A BUS WAS
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. TIME OF EVENT IS APPROXIMATE.
&&
28PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
428 PM CDT WED APR 21 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0312 PM HAIL CAULKSVILLE 35.30N 93.87W
04/21/2004 1.00 INCH LOGAN AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
0400 PM HAIL NEW SPADRA 35.43N 93.52W
04/21/2004 1.00 INCH JOHNSON AR EMERGENCY MNGR
0403 PM HAIL NEW BLAINE 35.28N 93.42W
04/21/2004 2.75 INCH LOGAN AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
28The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:39 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
As one weak tornado dissipated in northern Yell County, another one formed 4 to 5 miles southwest of Dardanelle. The new tornado caused mostly tree damage, with trees downed or snapped. The tornado eventually tracked into southern Pope County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 2004Warnings in Arkansas, April 2004
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: 5392011.