Power Outage in Hope, AR

Three inch tree limbs were snapped in Hope. Power poles were also broken in this area.

A pine tree was blown onto a home on County Road 2 in the Guernsey community west of Hope. A tree was also blown over onto power lines near this same location as well.

Numerous trees and power lines were downed across Central and Southern Hempstead County.

A tree fell onto a power line near West 4th Street and South Mockingbird Lane.

Trees and powerlines were downed in Hope and outside the city limits as well.

Trees were uprooted and a power pole was snapped at the intersection of Highway 73 and Highway 195 northwest of Hope.

Numerous trees and powerlines were downed throughout the entire county.

A few trees and powerlines were downed in Hope, Arkansas.

Numerous trees and powerlines were downed across much of the county.

Trees and powerlines were downed through the entire county.

Powerlines were downed east of Hope, Arkansas along Hwy. 32.

Powerlines were downed, trees were uprooted and a barn was damaged.

Trees and powerlines were downed in Hope and throughout the county along Hwy. 278 and Hwy. 29.

Trees and powerlines were downed on North Pine Street and a large tree was down at the intersection of Edgewood and Third Streets. One of the trees was blown onto a pickup truck. The tree crushed the cab, injuring a passenger.

The tornado downed several trees along and west of West Hempstead 40 Road and moved northeast across Highway 371 where it downed several large trees and the powerlines adjacent to the highway.

Several trees were snapped and uprooted beginning along the intersection of CR 10 and Hwy 195 including a tree on a powerline. Trees were snapped along CR 10 to the intersection of CR 10 and CR 2. The tornado lifted just south of I-30 near the weigh station west of Hope where several trees were snapped and uprooted���including one onto I-30. Maximum winds are estimated at 65-70 mph.

Several trees were snapped and uprooted beginning along the intersection of CR 10 and Hwy 195 including a tree on a powerline. Trees were snapped along CR 10 to the intersection of CR 10 and CR 2. The tornado lifted just south of I-30 near the weigh station west of Hope where several trees were snapped and uprooted���including one onto I-30. Maximum winds are estimated at 65-70 mph.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Ike resulted in numerous trees and power lines reported down across all of Hempstead County, Arkansas. Power outages were widespread as well throughout the county.

Strong non-thunderstorm winds blew through Hempstead County the afternoon of the 29th causing widespread power outages from downed power lines and fallen trees. One tree fell atop a car in Hope and another fell atop a carport roof. No one was injured. The downed power lines resulted in some small grass fires as well which were scattered throughout the county.

Numerous trees and power lines down.

After trying to recover from an ice storm two week earlier in the month, another even more devastating ice storm struck all of southwest Arkansas. Freezing rain resulted in ice accumulations ranging from 1/4 inch to as much as 6 inches. After taking a tour of the state, the Governor of Arkansas used words such as apocalyptic and cataclysmic to describe the damage. Power was knocked out across all of southwest Arkansas with nearly 300,000 homes and business without power due to thousands of trees and 2500 power poles either broken or toppled. Utility crews from 23 different states were summoned to help repair lines. Some residents were without power as late as the middle of January 2001.

An arctic air mass spilled southward out of the central plains and into the lower Mississippi Valley. This cold, surface air mass was overrun by a warm humid air mass which combined with a strong upper level storm system across west Texas. the result was widespread freezing rain across all of southwest Arkansas. The precipitation was a mixture of freezing rain, sleet and some light snow northwest of a Texarkana to Prescott Arkansas line while further east the precipitation was all freezing rain. Ice accumulations of two to four inches were common. An estimated 235,000 residents lost electrical power due to ice covered power lines snapping or ice covered trees splitting and falling across the lines. The was the worst storm in the history of the power companies suppling the power as far as damage but not total ice accumulations. A total of 29 transmission lines atop "H" shaped steel towers were snapped due to the weight of the ice. Numerous traffic accidents were also reported and many homes suffered damage from fallen trees and tree limbs. As a result, the Governor of Arkansas declared a State of Emergency for all of southwest Arkansas. Cleanup costs along reached upwards of 15 million dollars. Several Pine Plantations throughout southwest Arkansas suffered catastrophic damage from the ice storm with upwards of 25 million dollars worth of young trees destroyed.

A deep southwesterly flow aloft prevailed across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley on January 30th-February 2nd, ahead of a strong upper level low pressure system that drifted through Southern California, the Desert Southwest into Northern Mexico. Meanwhile, a strong but shallow arctic cold front shifted south through the Southern Plains on January 29th-30th, before slowing significantly in the higher terrain of the Ouachitas of Southeast Oklahoma and Western Arkansas. Weak upper level disturbances embedded in this flow ahead of the low resulted in widespread sleet and freezing rain across much of the Southern Plains given the warm air above this shallow, freezing air mass, with areas of light freezing rain affecting portions of East Texas, extreme Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas on January 30th-February 2nd. Ice accumulations of one-quarter inch were observed across Hempstead and Nevada Counties in Southwest Arkansas, with ice accretion noted on trees and power lines, as well as significant icing on bridges and overpasses. Numerous large limbs were snapped off of trees due to the weight of the ice, with several trees downed on homes in Prescott (Nevada County). ||The following are freezing rain reports across Hempstead and Nevada Counties in Southwest Arkansas:||Hempstead County: Hope: 0.25 inches.|Nevada County: Prescott: 0.25 inches.

A deep southwesterly flow aloft prevailed across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley on January 30th-31st, ahead of a strong upper level low pressure system that drifted through Southern California, the Desert Southwest into Northern Mexico. Meanwhile, a strong but shallow arctic cold front shifted south through the Southern Plains on the 29th-30th, before slowing significantly in the higher terrain of the Ouachitas of Southeast Oklahoma and Western Arkansas. Weak upper level disturbances embedded in this flow ahead of the low resulted in widespread sleet and freezing rain across much of the Southern Plains given the warm air above this shallow, freezing air mass, with areas of light freezing rain affecting portions of East Texas, extreme Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas on the 30th-31st. Ice accumulations of one-quarter inch were observed across Hempstead and Nevada Counties in Southwest Arkansas, with ice accretion noted on trees and power lines, as well as significant icing on bridges and overpasses. Numerous large limbs were snapped off of trees due to the weight of the ice, with several trees downed on homes in Prescott (Nevada County). This extended duration of freezing rain persisted into the first couple days of February across these areas.||The following are freezing rain reports across Hempstead and Nevada Counties in Southwest Arkansas: ||Hempstead County: Hope: 0.25 inches. |Nevada County: Prescott: 0.25 inches.

A strong but shallow cold front drifted south through Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, and Northeast Texas during the afternoon and evening hours of February 22nd, with temperatures plummeting to near and below freezing by the early morning hours of the 23rd. A deep, moist southwest flow aloft was in place across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley during the 22nd-23rd, with embedded impulses in the flow enhancing large scale forcing such that areas of freezing rain mixed with brief periods of sleet fell across much of Northern and Northeast Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Damming of the colder, subfreezing air from the Ouachitas of Southeast Oklahoma and Western Arkansas slowed the progression of the transition to the mixed wintry precipitation, such that only McCurtain County Oklahoma, the western sections of East Texas, and the northern sections of Southwest Arkansas observed only minor impacts of the ice accumulations. In these areas, minor ice accumulations occurred on elevated objects such as trees and power lines, with some icing observed on bridges and elevated road surfaces.||The following are ice accumulations measured in Southwest Arkansas: ||In Howard County, 0.02 inches of ice was measured with light ice accumulations on trees 4 NNE of Nashville. |In Hempstead County, 0.03 inches of ice was measured with light ice accumulations on trees in Hope.

A narrow line of showers and thunderstorms developed during the pre-dawn hours of January 25th across Northcentral Texas, along and just ahead of a cold front and associated upper trough that progressed east across the Central and Southern Plains. A strong southwesterly low level jet helped to organize these storms into a line along the front, with steep mid level instability helping to enhance large scale ascent to fuel strong thunderstorms along the line, which produced consistent 40-45 mph wind gusts. However, an isolated severe thunderstorm did develop within this line over Central Hempstead County Arkansas around mid-morning, where a pine tree was blown down onto a home just west of Hope. Another nearby tree was also blown onto power lines as well. These storms weakened as they lifted northeast across the remainder of Southwest Arkansas.

A mesoscale convective vortex (MCV) from a decayed area of showers and thunderstorms over Southeast Oklahoma drifted east into the northern sections of Southwest Arkansas during the afternoon and evening hours of June 21st, along a weak shortwave trough that drifted east across Western and Central Arkansas. A warm, moist, and unstable air mass lingered across Southwest Arkansas during the evening, with a modest southwesterly low level flow feeding additional low level moisture as large scale forcing increased ahead of the MCV. Thus, showers and thunderstorms quickly developed by mid and late evening on the 21st across the northern sections of Southwest Arkansas, and some of which became severe, producing hail and downing numerous trees and power lines across Hempstead County. As additional storms developed through the remainder of the evening into the early morning hours of the 22nd, locally heavy rainfall began to repeatedly move over the same areas of Hempstead and Nevada Counties, where widespread rainfall amounts of 3-6+ inches fell. Given the previously dry conditions over these areas during the preceding month, flash flooding was localized and confined to portions of Hempstead County, before the storms diminished and moved east into South-central Arkansas prior to daybreak.

A vigorous upper level trough moved into the Southern Plains during the late afternoon, evening and overnight hours of November 30th-December 1st. Upper level forcing in response to this disturbance moved into the Middle Red River Valley of Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma and Southwest Arkansas during the evening hours of November 30th and strong to severe thunderstorms erupted north and west of the Interstate 30 Corridor as a result. The atmosphere was moderately unstable for the last day in November but strong deep layer and low level directional shear was present. This resulted in supercell type thunderstorms and bowing thunderstorm complexes, one of which moved across Northeast Texas into Southeast Oklahoma and Southwest Arkansas producing widespread wind damage all along its track. Numerous trees and power lines were downed with these storms and one storm in Hempstead County, Arkansas produced a brief EF-1 tornado near the city of Hope along the northern end of a bow echo. No injuries were reported with this event.

A deep upper level low pressure system that produced severe thunderstorms across the southern half of Northeast Texas into much of Northern Louisiana produced widespread rain across all of Southwest Arkansas during Christmas Day. However, much colder arctic air moved into the Middle Red River Valley during the late afternoon and evening hours of the 25th which allowed the rain to change over to snow very quickly. Accumulating snow was common across several counties in Southwest Arkansas. This heavy wet snow resulted in several trees downed along with powerlines which cut power to many locations across Southwest Arkansas. There were also several accidents reported from the accumulating snow on area roadways and bridges. The following were some snowfall accumulations across |Southwest Arkansas: Foreman: 7.5 inches, Dequeen: 4.5 inches, 5 N of Nashville: 7 inches, Dierks: 5.5 inches, Athens and Umpire: 6 inches, Ozan: 5 inches.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms formed around the eastern periphery of an upper level ridge of high pressure that extended from New Mexico and the panhandle of Texas into the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley. An upper level shear axis and trough of low pressure aloft over Arkansas and East Oklahoma help provide lift and instability as it shifted east into the area. A surface boundary over the same area (Oklahoma and Arkansas) also contributed to the development of convection. Strong to severe thunderstorms produce scattered damage to trees and power lines with most of the damage caused by wind gusts.

Hurricane Gustav moved northwestward into the southeast Louisiana coast during the early morning hours of September 1st. The storm continued a steady northwestward motion into east central Louisiana and northwest Louisiana during the evening hours of September 1st. The storm was downgraded to a tropical storm just before entering east central Louisiana during the late evening hours of September 1st. As the storm continued to move to the northwest...tropical storm force winds affected much of east central and west central Louisiana which downed numerous trees and power lines. Power was out across many locations and several trees fell on top of homes and automobiles. Wind gusts likely approached 70 mph in a few locations during the evening and late night hours of September 1st into the pre dawn hours of September 2nd. The remnants of the storm slowly moved northward into southwest Arkansas late on September 2nd and into September producing excessive heavy rainfall across southern portions of the state.