While the atmosphere dried out, it heated up on the 30th. Scattered thunderstorms bubbled up quickly across the north and built into the central counties.
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 episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.
While the atmosphere dried out, it heated up on the 30th. Scattered thunderstorms bubbled up quickly across the north and built into the central counties. A devastating hailstorm struck parts of Pulaski and Lonoke counties late in the afternoon.
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 Jun 30, 5:46 AM CST, 29 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 646 AM CDT TUE JUN 30 2009 .AVIATION... HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES SOUTHWEST OF ARKANSAS AND LOW PRESSURE TO THE NORTHEAST. THIS IS PROVIDING NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER ARKANSAS AND WILL BRING SEVERAL IMPULSES ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEK. THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND NORTH ARKANSAS. ALSO A FRONT IN MISSOURI WILL SLOWLY SAG SOUTH TODAY AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ALONG AND NEAR THE FRONT. MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THOUGH MVFR IS EXPECTED IN THUNDERSTORMS. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 312 AM CDT TUE JUN 30 2009/ SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY INSTABILITY WILL INCREASE OVER THE AREA TODAY...AS A FRONT IN MISSOURI MOVES SOUTHWARD TOWARD ARKANSAS...AND UPPER TROUGHING MOVES DOWN IN NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. STRONG DAYTIME HEATING WILL ADD TO THE DESTABILIZATION...ALLOWING FOR WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT OVER THE FORECAST AREA. THERE COULD BE AN ISOLATED STRONG STORM AHEAD OF THE FRONT. FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATE MICROBURST POTENTIAL...AND DRY ADIABATIC LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES TO ADD A HAIL THREAT. FOR NOW... WILL MENTION IN THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...BUT KEEP OUT OF THE FORECAST AS THREAT WILL BE ISOLATED. FRONT WILL HANG UP OVER THE AREA BY LATE WEDNESDAY. NEXT CHANCE OF SHOWERS/STORMS WILL OCCUR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...AS SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL WAVES MOVE THROUGH IN THE MEAN FLOW AND INTERACT WITH THE STALLED/WOBBLING BOUNDARY. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO BE MOSTLY ABOVE CLIMATOLOGICAL AVERAGES. NO HEAT-RELATED CONCERNS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE SHORT TERM PERIOD... THOUGH HEAT INDEX VALUES MAY APPROACH 100 DEGREES ACROSS THE SOUTH ON FRIDAY. LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHWEST U.S. THROUGH THE PERIOD. THIS WILL ALLOW SEVERAL SHORTWAVES TO MOVE ACROSS ARKANSAS DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN NEARLY THE ENTIRE EXTENDED PERIOD. A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS THE AREA WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AS THE SHORTWAVES INTERACT WITH IT. NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED CENTRAL AND SOUTH WITH SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES IN THE NORTH. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 91 63 89 64 / 20 20 10 10 CAMDEN AR 95 66 96 66 / 20 20 10 10 HARRISON AR 89 63 89 63 / 30 20 10 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 95 69 95 67 / 20 20 10 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 94 70 94 69 / 20 20 10 10 MONTICELLO AR 95 71 94 71 / 20 20 10 10 MOUNT IDA AR 93 66 94 62 / 20 20 10 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 89 63 91 63 / 20 20 10 10 NEWPORT AR 92 64 91 64 / 20 20 10 10 PINE BLUFF AR 94 69 94 68 / 20 20 10 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 92 64 94 63 / 20 20 10 10 SEARCY AR 91 66 91 65 / 20 20 10 10 STUTTGART AR 93 70 94 70 / 20 20 10 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && AVIATION...51
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT TUE JUN 30 2009 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-011000- 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- 500 AM CDT TUE JUN 30 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WITH NORTHWEST FLOW OVER ARKNASAS. SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE REMAINS OVER TEXAS AND A COLD FRONT IS LOCATED IN SOUTHERN MISSOURI. THIS WILL BE A SLOW MOVING FRONT BUT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FOCUSED ON THIS BOUNDARY TODAY. AS THE ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE THROUGH THE DAY...DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY OVER MUCH OF NORTH AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE DURING THE LATE EVENING HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. THERE WILL BE CHANCES OF AFTERNOON TO EARLY EVENING CONVECTION NEARLY EACH DAY AS SEVERAL UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVE THROUGH THE PREVAILING FLOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 51
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 412 AM CDT TUE JUN 30 2009 ARZ004-300955- MARION- 412 AM CDT TUE JUN 30 2009 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR MARION COUNTY UNTIL 455 AM CDT... AT 412 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LEAD HILL...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. SMALL HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. AREAS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED INCLUDE PYATT...YELLVILLE AND FLIPPIN. FREQUENT LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. IF OUTDOORS...STAY AWAY FROM ISOLATED HIGH OBJECTS SUCH AS TREES. MOVE INDOORS IF POSSIBLE. WHEN INDOORS...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND DOORS AND AVOID USING TELEPHONES UNLESS IT IS AN EMERGENCY. 57
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:16 UTC.
45 hail, 31 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and large limbs were down. Shingles were off of houses and a few barns were damaged.
A barn under construction was blown down.
Dog kennels were blown across the highway.
Hail occurred at Holley Mountain Airpark.
Trees were knocked down and a couple of houses were damaged.
Large trees were down in Culpepper.
Power poles were down in Clinton.
Hail occurred at the Fairfield Bay golf course.
One house was damaged by a falling tree. Two more houses had roof damage.
Trees were down in Malvern.
Winds were approximately 60 mph.
A farm had a barn with its roof completely off and another barn had its roof peeled back on Long Drive off of Sand Road. Trees were down on Williams Road.
Trees were down in Rockport.
An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported.
Trees were down in Wooster.
A tree was down on a car and power lines were down.
Trees were down in eastern Conway.
A devastating hailstorm, several miles wide, affected northern portions of North Little Rock and continued eastward through Sherwood and on into the area between Jacksonville and Galloway. In North Little Rock, hail up to 1 inch in diameter pelted the National Weather Service office at the North Little Rock airport for 6 minutes, from 5:11 to 5:17 PM CDT. The hail became larger as it progressed farther to the east. The Indian Hills and Windsor Valley subdivisions in North Little Rock were particularly hard-hit, as some of the hail increased to golf ball size (1.75 inches). Roofs were ruined and cars were dented.
In Sherwood, much of the hail was golf ball size, and some of it was even larger. The hailstones poked holes in vinyl siding, ruined roofs, dented cars, and smashed car windshields. City officials indicated that thousands of roofs would have to be replaced. Automobile dealerships along U.S. Highway 67/167 were very hard-hit. One dealer said it was the first time in the 40 year history of the dealership that they were going to have to hold a hail sale. The largest hail was baseball size (2.75 inches) and was reported in the southern part of Sherwood.
The hailstorm then continued eastward into Lonoke County.
For the sake of completeness, all hail reports received by the National Weather Service are listed individually.
Trees were down in Furlow.
The devastating hailstorm moved eastward out of Pulaski County, and continued east across all of Lonoke County. The hail swath about 10 miles wide. The hail ranged in size from the size of nickels (0.88 inch) to the size of baseballs (2.75 inches). Communities affected included South Bend, Parnell, Furlow, Fairview, Brownsville, Lonoke, and Carlisle.
The largest hail fell a few miles north and northeast of Lonoke, where much of the hail was golf ball size (1.75 inches) to baseball size (2.75 inches). The hailstones ruined roofs, damaged siding on houses, broke windows in houses, broke car windshields, killed birds perched in trees, and destroyed gardens and crops. The worst damage was found in the vicinity of these roads: Plafcan Rd., Fred Koch Rd., Watson Lane, E. Watson Rd., Ferguson Ln., Wesley Kittler Rd., Kittler Rd., E. Schafer Rd., Raymond Schafer Rd., Brownsville Loop, Arkansas Highway 13, Lawson Rd., Lilly Rd., Oakdale Rd., Northcutt Rd., D.K. Bennett Rd., Bud Young Rd., and Arkansas Highway 31.
The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service indicated that between 22 and 27 farmers lost 60% to 100% of their crops. Altogether, about 26,000 acres of crops were lost, including 16,260 acres of soybeans, 8,130 acres of rice, and 1,600 acres of corn. Corn stalks that were 8 feet tall were cut in half and soybeans were beaten to the ground.
For the sake of completeness, all hail reports received by the National Weather Service are listed individually.
A strong gust was recorded by ASOS at the Air Force Base.
Hail damaged the roof and siding of a mobile home.
Hail knocked the windows out of the kitchen and bedroom of a house, and broke the windshield of a car.
Large tree limbs were down.
Windows were blown out of a house and shed.
Five inch diameter tree limbs were blown down. Shingles were blown off a roof.
Shingles were blown off some roofs, a few barns were blown down, and trees and power lines were blown down.
Trees were uprooted.
A TV antenna was knocked off a pole.
Damage occurred to a garden.
Large oak trees were blown down.
A large tree was down along Arkansas Highway 33.
Trees and large limbs were down around Sheridan.
Trees were down on Arkansas Highway 277.
Trees were down on Arkansas Highway 26 and Arkansas Highway 51, halfway between Arkadelphia and the Arkansas Highway 26 and 51 Junction.
Trees were down on West Reynolds Road near the Interstate 30 overpass.
A large tree was down across Arkansas Highway 203.
Trees and power lines were blown down, and the steeple was blown off a church.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, June 2009
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: 181372, 179571, 185436, 179584, 179603, 179604, 185427, 179600, 179601, 179606, 179580, 179582, 179585, 179607, 179665, 179578, 179583, 179618, 179611, 179574, 179612, 179592, 179573, 184509, 179617, 179614, 179620, 179615, 179621, 179622, 179624, 179625, 179590, 184531, 179591, 179635, 179632, 179640, 179641, 179634, and more.