Severe thunderstorms swept across large portions of Arkansas Monday evening, June 1, 2026, as a cold front collided with extremely hot and humid air across the state.
The National Weather Service issued multiple Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Warnings impacting counties across western, central, northeastern, and north-central Arkansas.
Storms produced damaging wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour, quarter-sized hail, torrential rainfall, and dangerous lightning as the line of storms moved east across the state.
Dennis Cavanaugh with the National Weather Service office in Little Rock said storm damage reports included trees falling on a house and multiple trees down across parts of Independence County, especially along Arkansas Highway 14.
Cavanaugh also confirmed reports of 1 inch hail in Van Buren County near Clinton Airport along with additional tree damage across Van Buren County.
The strongest reported damage so far appeared to be south of Little Rock near the Wrightsville area around 5:30 Monday morning. Officials say widespread tree damage was reported with a possible wind signature consistent with 80 to 90 mile per hour winds.
In northeastern and north-central Arkansas, severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for White, Jackson, Craighead, Poinsett, and Independence counties between 7:15 PM and 8:00 PM Monday evening.
Warnings were also issued across central Arkansas for Conway, Faulkner, Perry, and Van Buren counties during the same time period.
Frequent cloud-to-ground lightning and heavy downpours reduced visibility in several communities as slow-moving storm cells tracked across the region.
Forecasters with the National Weather Service continue encouraging Arkansas residents to remain weather aware during severe weather outbreaks and to seek shelter immediately when warnings are issued.
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