Hail in Arkansas, November 3, 2012

Name: Hail in Arkansas, November 3, 2012
Start: 2012-11-03T15:37
End: 2012-11-03T17:43
Location: Arkansas

November 3, 2012 · NWS LZK · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The arrival of a cold front triggered scattered thunderstorms on the afternoon and evening of the 3rd. Hail fell in a number of locations, but most of it was small.

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: 3

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 LZK wrote it up.

The arrival of a cold front triggered scattered thunderstorms on the afternoon and evening of the 3rd. Hail fell in a number of locations, but most of it was small. In only one instance was the hail large enough to be considered severe.

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 Nov 3, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 3, 1:50 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATE FOR AVIATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
645 PM CDT SAT NOV 3

.AVIATION...

SCATTERED CONVECTION ASSOCIATED AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT HAS AFFECTED
KLIT AND KHOT...AND WILL GRADUALLY MOVE SOUTH AND AFFECT KPBF...KM89
AND EVENTUALLY KLLQ. STORMS WILL GRADUALLY WEAKENING AS THE EVENING
PROGRESSES. OVERALL VFR CEILINGS EXCEPT MVFR CEILINGS WITH
CONVECTION. AS THE STORMS MOVE SE THEY WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN. WINDS
ARE SW 5 TO 10 KNOTS AHEAD OF FRONT...WHILE NW TO N 5 TO 10 KNOTS
BEHIND THE FRONT. VFR CONDITIONS BEHIND THE FRONT. (59)

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 250 PM CDT SAT NOV 3 2012/

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY
NEAR TERM FORECASTS WILL FOCUS ON THE PROGRESSION OF THE COLD
FRONTAL BOUNDARY CURRENTLY MOVING SOUTH THROUGH THE STATE.

LATEST OBSERVATIONAL DATA INDICATES A WIND SHIFT FROM JONESBORO...TO
MENA...WITH A MORE PRONOUNCED DENSITY DISCONTINUITY NOTED ABOUT 50
MILES TO THE NORTH. SURFACE BASED CAPE VALUES OF OVER 2000 J/KG HAVE
BEEN NOTED TO THE SOUTH OF THE WIND SHIFT. FORCING ALONG THE
BOUNDARY STILL APPEARS TO BE QUITE WEAK...BUT STILL EXPECT AT LEAST
WIDELY SCATTERED CONVECTIVE COVERAGE THROUGH THE EVENING AHEAD OF
THE BOUNDARY. ALSO...CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS AND
NORTHERN LOUISIANA...THAT HAS FORMED IN AN AREA OF LOCALLY HIGHER
PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES...MAY AFFECT EXTREME SOUTHERN SECTIONS
EARLY THIS EVENING.

A SECONDARY COLD FRONT...WITH ASSOCIATED UPPER LEVEL ENERGY WILL
MOVE QUICKLY SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE MID SOUTH ON MONDAY.
PRECIPITATION THAT DOES OCCUR WITH THIS SYSTEM WILL BE LIGHT.

&&

.LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY
LITTLE OF ANY SIGNIFICANCE TO NOTE IN THE LONG TERM PERIODS. UPPER
FLOW WILL START TO TRANSITION TO ZONAL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE
PERIOD...WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE REGION.
SOUTHWEST/SOUTHERLY WINDS RETURNING WILL ACT TO WARM TEMPERATURES
BACK INTO THE 60S AND 70S.

UPPER RIDGING WILL DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHEAST CONUS BY THE END OF
THE PERIOD...WHICH WILL SLOW DOWN A FRONTAL BOUNDARY ATTEMPTING TO
MOVE INTO THE REGION BY LATE SATURDAY. HAVE LARGELY KEPT THE
FORECAST DRY...EXCEPT FOR SLIGHT CHANCE PRECIP PROBABILITIES LATE
SATURDAY NIGHT AS THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY GETS CLOSER. MOSTLY...ITS
POTENTIAL EFFECTS WILL BE SEEN JUST BEYOND THE END OF THE CURRENT
FORECAST PERIOD.

DUE TO THE SOUTHWEST/SOUTHERLY WINDS PREVAILING DURING THE LONG
TERM...TEMPERATURES WILL LARGELY BE ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. WINDS
TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD COULD BE ELEVATED AS WELL...DUE TO THE
CLOSE PROXIMITY OF SURFACE RIDGING OVER THE SOUTHEAST CONUS...AND
LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT TO THE WEST OF THE REGION.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
BATESVILLE AR     74  41  61  40 /  20  10   0  10
CAMDEN AR         83  50  65  45 /  20  30  20   0
HARRISON AR       66  38  61  41 /  10  10   0   0
HOT SPRINGS AR    80  46  64  43 /  20  30  10   0
LITTLE ROCK   AR  81  47  63  43 /  20  20  10   0
MONTICELLO AR     84  50  66  45 /  10  30  20   0
MOUNT IDA AR      78  45  64  43 /  20  20  10   0
MOUNTAIN HOME AR  67  39  60  40 /  10  10   0  10
NEWPORT AR        75  43  61  40 /  20  20  10  10
PINE BLUFF AR     83  49  64  44 /  10  30  10   0
RUSSELLVILLE AR   77  45  63  43 /  20  20  10   0
SEARCY AR         77  44  61  41 /  20  20  10  10
STUTTGART AR      81  47  62  43 /  20  30  10   0
&&

.LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&

SHORT TERM...55 / LONG TERM...57

Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 3, 9:29 AM CST, 6 hours 8 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
1029 AM CDT SAT NOV 3 2012

ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-041000-
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-
1029 M CDT SAT NOV 3 2012

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA TODAY...BRINGING A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. INSTABILITY
WILL BE GREATEST IN THE WARM SECTOR AHEAD OF THE FRONT. A FEW STRONG
STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM MENA...TO
STUTTGART...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL.  WIDESPREAD SEVERE
WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE STATE SUNDAY AND BRING
ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. PROGRESSIVE FLOW WILL
BRING AN UPPER LEVEL LOW THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY WITH ANOTHER CHANCE
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WILL BE DRY AS A
RIDGE BUILDS TOWARD ARKANSAS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED.

&&

VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND
CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS.

55

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Nov 3, 3:34 PM CST, 3 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
434 PM CDT SAT NOV 3 2012

ARZ042-043-054-055-032205-
GARLAND AR-GRANT AR-HOT SPRING AR-SALINE AR-
434 PM CDT SAT NOV 3 2012

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHERN SALINE...NORTHEASTERN
HOT SPRING...NORTHWESTERN GRANT AND EXTREME EASTERN GARLAND COUNTIES
UNTIL 500 PM CDT...

AT 429 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF TRASKWOOD...OR 9 MILES
NORTHEAST OF MALVERN...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF PENNIES AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE
EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  BENTON...             TRASKWOOD...          HASKELL...
  NANCE...              GLEN ROSE...          CLEARWATER LAKE...

THIS INCLUDES INTERSTATE 30 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 102 AND 117.

THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND
TV STATIONS...AS WELL AS LOCAL CABLE TV OUTLETS...FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 3458 9258 3441 9257 3442 9269 3445 9283
      3455 9281
TIME...MOT...LOC 2134Z 271DEG 15KT 3449 9272

227

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 50 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Saline

When: November 3, 3:37 PM CST to 3:42 PM CST
Where: Saline County, 2.49 mi NW of Haskell
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.528, -92.657

Hail between .75 inch and 1.50 inches in diameter fell in the Haskell area.

Hail, Monroe

When: November 3, 4:15 PM CST
Where: Monroe County, 1.8 mi NE of Eden
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.887, -91.256

Hail ranged from .75 to .88 inch in diameter on Interstate 40.

Hail, Pulaski

When: November 3, 5:43 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County, 1.87 mi SW of Woodland Hgts
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: Social Media
Coordinates: 34.765, -92.427

Hail fell in west Little Rock.

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

Every storm in Arkansas in 2012 Every state in 2012 This day in weather history Warnings in Arkansas, November 2012

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: 411587, 411585, 411586.