Tornado and Hail in Arkansas, May 20, 2025

Name: Tornado and Hail in Arkansas, May 20, 2025
Start: 2025-05-20T15:03
End: 2025-05-20T16:21
Location: Arkansas

May 20, 2025 · NWS JAN · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

Severe storms produced damaging winds, hail, and a tornado in southeast Arkansas.

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 JAN wrote it up.

Severe storms produced damaging winds, hail, and a tornado in southeast Arkansas.

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 Jackson, MS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 20, 2:23 PM CST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 2:23 PM CST, 40 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Jackson MS
323 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

...New DISCUSSION...

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 315 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

Through tonight: The scenario continues to unfold as expected
with a capped warm sector that is heating up strongly well ahead
of an approaching cold front. Storms including some supercells
have developed from northern LA to eastern AR/nrn MS, and they are
just outside of our forecast area. Given that the mixing layer
depth has just about peaked now, it may take some time for a
tornado threat to ramp up, so damaging wind gusts and large hail
should be the primary threats. By early to mid this evening, as
the storms become more organized, we will see the severe threats
peak over north central to northeast MS, including for tornadoes
with effective low level shear expected to maximize in that area
and time frame. The lift associated with the front will be less
as you go south, which makes storm coverage and the overall storm
threat more conditional, especially south of the I-20 corridor
late tonight. There has been little change to timing and hazards.
/EC/

Wednesday through Monday: Cyclonic northwest flow aloft around a
large northeast CONUS trough will bring drier and slightly cooler
conditions to the forecast area making for more comfortable
conditions through late week. As is often the case this time of
year, less humidity is a very temporary condition, and the heat
and humidity will begin to build back in this weekend along with
rain chances. It looks like stormy conditions will peak late
Sunday and perhaps intol Monday ahead of a seasonably strong cold
front pushing south into the area. /EC/

&&

.AVIATION...
(18Z TAFS)
Issued at 1239 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

VFR conditions will prevail through the period with a gusty
southerly wind, as sustained winds will be up to 20mph and gusts
of up to 30mph. Expect periods of TSRA and VCTS this afternoon and
well into the evening as a line of storms pushes through the area with
periods of gusts of up to 60mph along the line. Early tomorrow
morning sites PIB and HBG will have possible low stratus/fog
dropping categories to IFR,conditions will begin to deteriorate
by 8Z and improve by 14Z. /KP/

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
Jackson       64  86  63  88 /  50   0   0   0
Meridian      65  86  61  90 /  60   0   0   0
Vicksburg     62  86  63  89 /  30   0   0   0
Hattiesburg   72  91  65  93 /  20   0   0   0
Natchez       64  87  64  90 /  30   0   0   0
Greenville    61  85  63  86 /  20   0   0   0
Greenwood     61  85  62  86 /  30   0   0   0

&&

.JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MS...None.
LA...None.
AR...None.

&&

EC/SAS20/KP

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 11:10 AM CST, 3 hours 53 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Jackson MS
1210 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0214 AM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     7 ENE Minter City       33.78N 90.18W
05/17/2025                   Leflore            MS   Local Official

            Trees down N of Philipp.

&&

CE

Local storm report, May 20, 12:29 PM CST, 2 hours 34 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Jackson MS
129 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0433 PM     Hail             2 E Forest              32.79N 91.37W
05/17/2025  M1.00 Inch       West Carroll       LA   Public

            Penny size with a few up to quarters.

&&

CE

Local storm report, May 20, 12:38 PM CST, 2 hours 25 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Jackson MS
138 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0548 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     1 N Transylvania        32.70N 91.18W
05/17/2025                   East Carroll       LA   Public

            Some trees damaged in the area with a few
            down on power lines.

&&

CE

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 174 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Ashley

When: May 20, 3:03 PM CST
Where: Ashley County, 4 mi SE of Fountain Hill
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 33.310, -91.830

Hail up to the size of quarters fell in the area.

Thunderstorm Wind, Ashley

When: May 20, 3:17 PM CST
Where: Ashley County, 3.53 mi WNW of Trafalgar
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 33.360, -91.660

A power line was blown down.

Tornado, Chicot

When: May 20, 4:04 PM CST to 4:21 PM CST
Where: Chicot County, 6.06 mi S of Cosgrove to 2.31 mi WSW of Eminence
Rating: EF1
Path length: 11.55 mi
Path width: 700 yd
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates: 33.213, -91.411

An EF-1 tornado tracked along Arkansas Highway 160, beginning near the County Road 252 intersection, and it continued through Chicot Junction and lifted east of US Highway 65. Along the path, several utility poles were snapped along Arkansas 160, and several trees were snapped or uprooted. Two metal farm buildings along the Boeuf River were damaged, with one having concrete anchors pulled from the ground aided by the open air layout of the building. The tornado lifted within a fielded area east of Bayou Macon. The maximum estimated wind speeds were 110 mph.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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 2025 Every state in 2025 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Arkansas, 2025 Warnings in Arkansas, May 2025

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: 1267785, 1267787, 1267802.