During the afternoon and evening of April 9th and overnight hours of the 10th, an outbreak of severe storms and tornadoes occurred across the ArkLaMiss region and pushed east through northern Louisiana and into northern Mississippi. While the majority of the severe weather occurred out of the NWS Jackson, MS service area, several reports of large hail and wind damage were reported along with a few tornadoes. One of the strongest storms moved east across Ashley County Arkansas. This storm produced an EF2 tornado over the southwest and southern sections, and contained a swath of quarter to golf ball sized hail which occurred across the entire length of the county.
In looking at this event, which occurred over two days (April 9-10), in a regional view, this was likely the biggest severe weather and tornado outbreak during the spring of 2009. This event contained numerous strong tornadoes along with hundreds of large hail reports which stretched from the Southern Plains to several other southern States.

Thunderstorm Wind in ASHLEY, ARKANSAS
From 09-APR-09 23:00:00 to 09-APR-09 23:05:00 (CST-6)
Location: KIMBALL
Magnitude: 50.00 EG
Property damage: 8.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

A few downed trees damaged some roofs around Wilmot.

Thunderstorm Wind in CHICOT, ARKANSAS
From 09-APR-09 23:27:00 to 09-APR-09 23:27:00 (CST-6)
Location: EUDORA
Magnitude: 50.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: COOP Observer

A few trees were blown down around Eudora.

Hail in CHICOT, ARKANSAS
From 09-APR-09 23:10:00 to 09-APR-09 23:42:00 (CST-6)
Location: EMPIRE
Magnitude: 2.00 
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

A swath of quarter to hen egg sized hail occurred across all of southern Chicot County as a supercell storm tracked east.

Hail in ASHLEY, ARKANSAS
From 09-APR-09 22:25:00 to 09-APR-09 22:57:00 (CST-6)
Location: SULPHUR SPGS
Magnitude: 1.75 
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

A swath of nickel to golf ball sized hail fell across a large portion of central Ashley County. Golf ball sized hail occurred around Crossett as this supercell storm, the one which produced the EF2 tornado in the southern portion of the county, tracked east.

Hail in ASHLEY, ARKANSAS
From 09-APR-09 22:57:00 to 09-APR-09 23:10:00 (CST-6)
Location: KIMBALL
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: County Official

Penny size hail fell in Wilmot with some possibly larger stones.

Tornado in ASHLEY, ARKANSAS
From 09-APR-09 22:27:00 to 09-APR-09 22:47:00 (CST-6)
Location: WHITE
Tornado F-scale: EF2
Property damage: 600.00K
Crop damage: 50.00K
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey

The tornado tracked across rural southern Ashley County and snapped and uprooted hundreds of large hardwood and softwood trees. Forty two homes were damaged with approximately 15 homes that were heavily damaged or destroyed. The most intense damage was along Meridian Church Road in southwest Ashley County. Here, intense tree damage resulted in several cross roads being blocked by dozens of trees, and several mobile homes and houses were destroyed by the winds and fallen trees. This was the area rated EF2 with 130 mph winds. Over the last several miles of the track, the tornado was narrower and damage was primarily in the EF1 category.