Storms push strong winds, hail across state
Posted on Sunday, March 16, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/219878/
Hail pelted much of Arkansas on Friday night and into Saturday morning during thunderstorms that caused at least one funnel cloud, knocked out power and blew down trees in several counties.
Storms felled trees along Arkansas 355 near Patmos in Hempstead County around 9: 20 p. m. Friday, according to the National Weather Service office in Shreveport.
Nickel- to golf-ball-size hail fell over several southwestern Arkansas and northwestern Louisiana counties from about 7: 10 p. m. until 11 p. m., the center reported.
The storms started developing on a “stalled frontal boundary” in south Arkansas near the Louisiana border, said John Lewis, a senior forecaster with the National Weather Service office in North Little Rock.
A cool, dry air mass to the north collided with a warmer, more humid mass to the south, causing the storms, Lewis explained.
Temperatures ranged from 59 degrees in Blytheville in eastern Arkansas to a humid 83 degrees in El Dorado in southern Arkansas on Friday, making the atmosphere unstable, he said.
The storm knocked out power to at least 1, 900 Entergy customers statewide — 1, 500 in the Little Rock area, said spokesman James Thompson. Most customers had power by Saturday afternoon, he added.
In Union County, several large tree limbs were blown down about 2 miles east of El Dorado and also on the New London Highway northeast of the Strong community, the Shreveport Weather Service reported.
Wind damage was also reported along Agnes Road near Calion in Union County, according to the weather service.
No injuries were reported, an official with the Union County sheriff’s office said Saturday.
In Nevada County, a funnel cloud was reported between Willisville and Bodcaw at 9: 34 p. m. Friday, according to the weather service. Officials at the Nevada County sheriff’s office reported no storm damage or injuries.
Authorities at the Hempstead County and Columbia County sheriff ’s offices, where much of the hail fell overnight, also reported no injuries from the storms.
The National Weather Service office in North Little Rock reported a lot of hail around central Arkansas, but no tornado warnings were issued, Lewis said. Hail as big as half-dollars pelted west Little Rock around 3 a. m. Saturday.
“Our primary concern in central and north Arkansas was hail,” Lewis said.
In Northwest Arkansas, winds damaged at least one home and knocked out power to homes near Mountainburg, said Joe Sellers, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa.
The thunderstorms went through the northern part of Crawford and Franklin counties and through the southern part of Washington and Madison counties, Sellers said.
“There were several reports of high winds and some hail... up to an inch in diameter,” he said. At least one mobile home had roof damage around Mountainburg in Crawford County.
In eastern Arkansas, hail fell heavily around West Memphis during the night, an official with the West Memphis Police Department said Saturday.
The thunderstorms were the second in as many days for some parts of Arkansas.
About 3 a. m. Friday, a tornado hit Cleveland County and destroyed an unoccupied home, damaged vehicles and chicken houses and knocked down trees. At least 4, 000 people lost electricity during those storms, Thompson said.