A National Weather Service survey team will inspect wind damage in Desha and Arkansas counties today to confirm if a storm system spawned a tornado Tuesday evening.
The weather service in North Little Rock issued a tornado warning for the area shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday, when Doppler radar indicated a possible tornado near Pendleton in Desha County.
If the team confirms a tornado, it would be the fourth to hit the state this year.
Storms also popped up across the state Wednesday as cool air hit warm, moist unstable air, said National Weather Service meteorologist Julie Lesko of North Little Rock.
Hail that was 3 inches in diameter fell just north of Greenbrier in Faulkner County, and 1.75-inch diameter hail was reported near Grubbs in Jackson County on Wednesday. The weather service also issued thunderstorm warnings for Montgomery and Polk counties in western Arkansas and in Randolph County in northern Arkansas late Wednesday afternoon.
Tornado sirens activated in Sherwood on Wednesday afternoon, but the weather service did not issue a warning for the area, said meteorologist Charles Dalton of North Little Rock. He said he did not know why those sirens went off.
More storms are expected across much of Arkansas today and Friday, and again on Sunday, Lesko said.
The state saw three tornadoes on March 24-25.
The first was on March 24. It was a waterspout -- a tornado that remains on water -- and was photographed on Bull Shoals Lake in Marion County.
A twister on March 25 uprooted trees and damaged chicken houses near Lowell in Benton County. Also, the National Weather Service in Tulsa confirmed that an EF1 tornado that night with wind speeds of up to 110 mph touched down near Clifty in Madison County.
State Desk on 04/02/2015