...Todays Topic for Severe Weather Awareness Week is
Severe Thunderstorms...
The National Weather Service, in cooperation with the Arkansas
Division of Emergency Management, has proclaimed the week of
March 1st through the 7th as Severe Weather Awareness Week
in Arkansas.
A different topic will be discussed each day, and the topic
today is Severe Thunderstorms.
At any given moment around the world, approximately 1800
thunderstorms are occurring. Although thunderstorms are relatively
small, when considered on a global scale of weather, all
thunderstorms are dangerous. Lightning, flash floods, hail,
straight-line winds, and tornadoes all result from thunderstorms.
A thunderstorm is considered severe when it produces winds of at
least 58 mph, hail at least 1 inch in diameter (the size of a
quarter), and/or a tornado.
Hail forms in storm clouds where the air is subfreezing. Updrafts
which feed storm clouds drive raindrops skyward, and liquid turns
to ice. Quite often, hailstones will fall through the cloud,
collect water, and updrafts will force them aloft. The stones
refreeze and get larger.
In 2025, hail up to 3 inches in diameter was observed on March 30th
near Cave City (Sharp Co.) and on April 3rd near Staves
(Cleveland Co.). Numerous other instances of hail between 2-3 inches
in diameter were observed in March, April and May across Arkansas.
Large hail, on average, causes over one billion dollars in damage
(property and crops) in the United States each year. While large
hail causes some injuries, deaths from hail are relatively rare.
Animals fare far worse than humans.
When updrafts are overcome by rain and hail in storms, air from
aloft can descend in a hurry. When these downdrafts hit the ground
and spread out in all directions, damaging straight-line wind gusts
sometimes result.
In 2025, there were numerous cases of damaging wind gusts at least
75 mph during the Spring months. Destructive gusts up to 100 mph
blasted through portions of Miller County on April 5th. Estimated
peak wind gusts in excess of 90 mph also occurred across Sevier County
on September 5th and Howard County on September 24th.
Occasionally, thunderstorms spawn tornadoes. Most of these are
produced in the spring and fall during the afternoon and evening.
There are 37 tornadoes in a typical year. There were 60 tornadoes
locally in 2025.
Two other hazards associated with thunderstorms are lightning and
flash floods. However, these are not considered severe.
Whenever thunder is heard, there is lightning nearby. Lightning is
deadly, especially in the summer when people are outdoors.
Flash floods are another thunderstorm hazard. Vehicles driven into
flooded areas result in the greatest number of flash flood deaths.
Across the country, the top three deadliest thunderstorm hazards
in the last 30 years were flash floods, tornadoes, and
lightning (in that order).
...Some Severe Weather Safety Rules...
Know the difference between a watch and a warning. The National
Weather Service issues watches when conditions are favorable for
the development of severe weather. Warnings are reserved for cases
where severe weather is imminent or occurring.
If a Severe Thunderstorm Warning or Tornado Warning is issued
for your area, do not hesitate to find a place of safety. If a
safe room is not available, the next best location is the lowest
floor of a permanent structure in an interior room away from
windows. Put as many walls between you and the outdoors as you
can.
Make sure that you have a source to receive the latest
information, such as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, commercial
radio, TV stations or cable TV. Other sources of warning
information can include telephone notification services to
which people subscribe, pagers and cell phones.
&&
For a list of all the tornadoes and other significant weather
events that occurred in 2025...
https://www.weather.gov/media/lzk/StormsOf2025.pdf
|
Follow us on X
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on YouTube
LZK RSS Feed