Tornado and Hail in Arkansas, October 12, 2011

Name: Tornado and Hail in Arkansas, October 12, 2011
Start: 2011-10-12T16:55
End: 2011-10-12T18:03
Location: Arkansas

October 12, 2011 · NWS TSA · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Thunderstorms developed along and ahead of a cold front moving through the region during the early evening hours. Instability and low level wind shear were marginal for long-lived, organized severe storms but the stronger storms produced large hail and a brief tornado.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 happened

The episode as NWS TSA wrote it up.

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 Tulsa, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 12, 2:00 PM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 12, 2:00 PM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 12, 4:11 PM CST, 44 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
511 PM CDT WED OCT 12 2011

ARZ001-002-010-011-019-020-029-OKZ049-053>076-131000-
ADAIR OK-BENTON AR-CARROLL AR-CHEROKEE OK-CHOCTAW OK-CRAIG OK-
CRAWFORD AR-CREEK OK-DELAWARE OK-FRANKLIN AR-HASKELL OK-LATIMER OK-
LE FLORE OK-MADISON AR-MAYES OK-MCINTOSH OK-MUSKOGEE OK-NOWATA OK-
OKFUSKEE OK-OKMULGEE OK-OSAGE OK-OTTAWA OK-PAWNEE OK-PITTSBURG OK-
PUSHMATAHA OK-ROGERS OK-SEBASTIAN AR-SEQUOYAH OK-TULSA OK-WAGONER OK-
WASHINGTON OK-WASHINGTON AR-
511 PM CDT WED OCT 12 2011

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS AS WELL AS
MUCH OF EASTERN OKLAHOMA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.
	RISK...LIMITED.
	AREA...FAR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS.
	ONSET...ONGOING.

DISCUSSION...
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO FORM ACROSS FAR
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT MOVING ACROSS THE AREA.
COLD AIR ALOFT WILL RESULT IN ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR A FEW OF THE
STORMS TO POSSIBLY PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. THE SEVERE
WEATHER THREAT WILL END SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET.

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ACTION STATEMENT...
LOCAL SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED IN FAR NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
THROUGH EARLY EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.
THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...NO HAZARDS.
MONDAY...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL.
TUESDAY...NO HAZARDS.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE REGION EARLY NEXT
WEEK. IF MOISTURE QUALITY IS GOOD ENOUGH...THERE WILL BE A
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE FRONT MONDAY AND
MONDAY NIGHT.

WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/TULSA CONTAINS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 88 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, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Carroll

When: October 12, 4:55 PM CST
Where: Carroll County, 2 mi NE of Beaver
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 36.490, -93.745

Tornado, Carroll

When: October 12, 6:03 PM CST
Where: Carroll County, 2 mi NW of Berryville
Rating: EF0
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.391, -93.595

Several people witnessed a brief tornado over open country northwest of Berryville, one of which photographed it. The tornado resulted in no known damage.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Arkansas, 2011 Warnings in Arkansas, October 2011

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 347592, 340592.