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By Mark Bivens Despite winds that reportedly gusted up to almost 60 miles per hour in Hot Springs and hail in Dallas County, no storm damage was reported in Hot Spring County after Tuesday’s storms swept through the area.
Thunderstorms that raked Arkansas during the afternoon Tuesday dumped hail as big as golf balls and blew down trees with straight-line gusts up to 60 mph, the National Weather Service said. A chain-reaction pileup on Interstate 40 in east Arkansas during one storm sent several people to the hospital and closed down the highway's westbound lanes for several hours, state police said. Except for that accident, in which two tractor-trailers caught on fire, little damage was reported other than downed power lines. The storms were widely spread across the state, with locations as far apart as Fulton County in northern Arkansas, Dallas County in southwest Arkansas and Russellville in west Arkansas reporting hail and high winds. In between, major storm activity was reported in Lonoke County, just east of Little Rock. Hail an inch in diameter fell at Humnoke, while marble-sized hailstones were reported at Cabot and nickel-sized hail at nearby Austin. A trained weather spotter reported a gust estimated at 60 mph in Cabot, the weather service said. Tree limbs were reported blown down across power lines at Russellville, the agency said. Garland County also was targeted by the storms, with a wind gust measured at 59 mph, according to the weather service. Hail was reported at several locations in the county, including Jessieville, Piney and Hot Springs. Dime-sized hail was reported at Salem in Fulton County, while golf ball-sized hail fell at Dalark in Dallas County, the weather service said.
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