A fast-moving complex of severe thunderstorms pushed across northeastern Texas, northwestern Louisiana and southwestern Arkansas on Tuesday afternoon, prompting the National Weather Service in Shreveport to fire off roughly a dozen Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in a span of just over an hour.
Every warning flagged 60 mph wind gusts, with hail ranging from small stones to half-dollar size in the strongest cells.
A Rapid-Fire Round of Warnings
Beginning at 1:38 p.m. CDT and continuing past 2:40 p.m., forecasters issued back-to-back warnings stretching from Magnolia, Arkansas, down through the Shreveport-Bossier City metro and west toward Tyler, Texas. The storms were largely radar-indicated and unusually slow to organize, most drifting southwest at only 10 to 20 mph — a track that kept communities under threat longer than a typical fast-moving line.
Among the hardest-hit corridors, a cell near Bossier City and Shreveport carried 60 mph gusts and quarter-size hail, threatening Barksdale Air Force Base, Red Chute and Princeton. Farther west, storms over Smith and Cherokee counties in Texas packed the day’s largest stones at 1.25 inches, capable of denting vehicles and cracking siding.
What the Storms Threatened
The Weather Service repeated the same blunt impact statement across nearly every bulletin: hail damage to vehicles was expected, along with wind damage to roofs, siding and trees. Several warnings also noted continuous cloud-to-ground lightning and torrential rainfall capable of flash flooding.
“Seek shelter inside a well-built structure and stay away from windows,” the NWS urged residents in warning after warning, adding that wind damage can arrive before any rain or thunder is heard.
Locations named in the warnings read like a roll call of the region: Longview, Hallsville, Tatum, Minden, Homer, Gibsland, Magnolia, Springhill, Pittsburg, Daingerfield, Stamps, Lewisville and a stretch of Interstate 20, where the Fort Worth NWS office added its own warning for Van Zandt and Henderson counties.
Part of a Broader Central-U.S. Setup
Tuesday’s activity fit a pattern meteorologists had been tracking for days. The NWS Shreveport office placed Deep East Texas and West Louisiana under a Marginal Risk for severe storms through the evening, with damaging wind the primary hazard.
The trigger, according to AccuWeather, is a strengthening jet stream over the Plains feeding on warm, humid Gulf air — a recipe for multiple rounds of storms across more than a dozen states during the first week of June. Forecasters cautioned that while no major outbreak was expected, the storms could cut power and disrupt daily routines.
Staying Safe
Officials stressed the basics: get inside a sturdy building, avoid windows, and never drive through flooded roadways. With more disturbances expected mid-week per the Storm Prediction Center, residents across the ArkLaTex are advised to keep a weather radio or phone alerts close at hand and report any damage to local law enforcement or the Shreveport Weather Service office.