The tornado watch has been canceled for Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Independence, Jefferson, Lonoke, Sharp and White counties, as well as the Little Rock area, according to the National Weather Service.

A total of 7,982 Entergy customers are without power, with the highest number of outages reported in Crittenden County.

A total of 1,689 Electric Cooperative members are without power, according to the company’s outage map, with the highest number of outages reported in Cleveland and Van Buren counties.

2:20 p.m.: Tornado watch for eastern Arkansas extended until 8 p.m.

A tornado watch has been extended for much of eastern Arkansas until 8 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Forecasters said the watch has been canceled, however, for Clark, Conway, Garland, Hot Spring, Ouachita, Perry and Van Buren counties.

Wind gusts of 51 mph were reported in Jonesboro at 1 p.m. as a storm front moved into east Arkansas, according to the National Weather Service in Memphis. Gusts of 40 mph were reported in Blytheville and West Memphis. 

The storm front was forecast to reach the Mississippi River around 2 to 3 p.m., according to the weather service. 

"A strong tornado could occur," the agency reported. A suspected tornado hit Springdale early this morning, injuring seven people, two critically.

[Video not showing above? Click here » nwaonline.com/330tornadovideo/]

The storm damaged houses and businesses in Johnson as well as Springdale, officials said. Springdale Mayor Doug Sprouse declared an emergency, which should trigger similar declarations at the county and state levels, according to a statement from the mayor.

Washington Regional Medical Center’s emergency department confirmed the Fayetteville hospital received three patients following the severe weather. Storm victims suffered injuries ranging from minor to serious, according to a statement from the hospital. One of the patients was treated and discharged by midday, according to the release.

Northwest Medical Center-Springdale received the other four victims, according to spokeswoman Abby Davenport. “As of 11 a.m. four storm victims have been brought to our emergency room, with one remaining in good condition, one transferred to another facility and two treated for minor injuries and released.”

In Polk County, dispatchers received a 911 call about a large tree that had fallen onto a mobile home, according to the county’s sheriff. A mother and child were briefly trapped inside the home, but escaped without injury, authorities said.

-- Bill Bowden and Brianna Kwasnik. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette contributed to this update.

[Video not showing above? Click here » nwaonline.com/331tornadovideo1/]

12:34 p.m.: Storm front hits Little Rock area

A thunderstorm front moving through Arkansas on Wednesday hit the Little Rock area at about noon.

Justin Condry, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said the front will likely bring gusty rains to the capital city, with winds of up to 40 mph. He said the chance of severe weather is greater as the front moves toward the Mississippi River. 

The front spawned a suspected tornado in Springdale. The National Weather Service in Tulsa has dispatched a team to Springdale to assess the damage.

In Polk County, dispatchers received a 911 call about a large tree that had fallen onto a mobile home, according to the county’s sheriff. 

The home was on Treasure Lane, approximately 6 miles north of Mena, Sheriff Scott Sawyer said. Authorities said a mother and young child were trapped inside the residence as a result.

Sawyer said the tree had fallen through the trailer lengthwise.

Entergy reported just under 1,000 customers without power at about 1:45 p.m., according to an outage map provided by the utility. Arkansas and Jefferson counties were reporting the highest number of outages, according to the map. 

An Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas outage map reported roughly 215 of their members were without power, with Craighead County reporting the highest number of outages. 

Deputies forced their way into the home and located the mother and child trapped in the bathtub and deputies were able to free them, the sheriff said. The two were physically unharmed. 

South of the Cove, a large tree fell onto a car on U.S. 71, Sawyer said. The driver of the vehicle was uninjured.

Polk County also had unconfirmed reports of a tornado in the area, and several trees were reported down throughout the county, according to authorities.

-- Bill Bowden and Brianna Kwasnik

[Don't see the gallery above? Click here » nwaonline.com/330tornado/]

11:04 a.m.: School gym destroyed amid storms

SPRINGDALE — A possible tornado touched down in Springdale early Wednesday and injured seven people, two of whom were critically hurt, according to a police spokesman.

All were taken to local hospitals.

“We are pretty certain that it was a tornado,” meteorologist Joe Sellers said about 8:45 a.m.

The tornado appeared to touch down around 4 a.m., near Lokomotion Family Fun Park on College Avenue in north Fayetteville, said Lt. Jeff Taylor, Springdale Police Department spokesman. Its path was through Black Oak Avenue, Don Tyson Parkway, and Turner and Powell Streets, where George Elementary was struck.

Sellers said weather service staff had seen photos on social media of damage in Springdale, including to George Elementary, 2838 S. Powell St.

Social media posts from the district state that the gymnasium at the elementary school was destroyed and a kitchen and a cafeteria were severely damaged by heavy storms Wednesday morning.

The school district is closed for the day.

The gymnasium at the school was destroyed and the kitchen and cafeteria were severely damaged, according to a news release from the district. Maintenance staff are assessing damage in all buildings throughout the Springdale School District, according to the release.

The tornado also damaged residences at a mobile home park on Black Oak Avenue in Springdale. Southwestern Electric Power Co. reported almost 5,000 homes without electricity Wednesday morning in Washington County, while the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas reported roughly 275 customers without power at about 11 a.m.

Verizon reported between 40 and 60 sites down due to the storms in Northwest Arkansas, causing an interruption in service. The company said it is working to restore service.

Northwest Technical Institute is forgoing classes on campus Wednesday in favor of remote learning due to storm damage, according to a social media post by the school.

Firefighters from Springdale and Fayetteville, Washington County Medical Services and other first responders spent the morning checking houses door to door in the damaged area. No one was reported missing, Taylor said.

Old Missouri Road was closed because of a damaged traffic light, he said.

Part of Main Drive in Johnson also was closed by tornado damage. An auto shop building on Main Drive was blown off its foundation during the storm, knocking down power lines and keeping the street closed through midmorning.

“We just got the building out of the street,” Chief Chance Wright with the Johnson Fire Department said around 10 a.m. “The power lines are still down and Main Drive is closed from U.S. 71 to Elmore Street. They’re stretching the power lines right now. About half of Main Drive is without power.”

Wright said the shop building was not in use and other buildings and residences sustained mostly minor damage. He also said a radio tower in Johnson was blown down and destroyed during the storm. Wright said there were no injuries reported from the storm.

A post on the National Weather Service Twitter page a little before 8:30 a.m. stated: “We’ve received multiple reports of damage in the Springdale area. We will be surveying the damage today to determine the official cause, any necessary ratings, etc., and we’ll update as soon as we have that information.”

Robert McGowen, Benton County administrator of public safety, said no storm damage had been reported in the county.

-- Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, with information contributed by Brianna Kwasnik

9:19 a.m.: Much of Arkansas under tornado watch; severe thunderstorm warning in effect for parts of state

Much of the state is under a tornado watch until 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. Several counties in northern Arkansas are also under a severe thunderstorm warning until 10 a.m.

The severe thunderstorm warning is in effect for portions of Searcy, Newton, Marion, Boone, Baxter and Fulton counties.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were in place for other portions of northern and Central Arkansas, though those warnings have since expired.

The greatest risk for widespread damaging winds is generally east of the Interstate 30/U.S. 67 corridor, while the greatest risk for tornadoes is across roughly the southeast third of the state, according to a Wednesday morning briefing from the National Weather Service.

Storms that become severe will be capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 80 mph and a few brief, weak tornadoes, forecasters say. The hail threat is low. 

A secondary but significant concern is strong non-thunderstorm wind gusts of up to 60 mph, with the strongest gusts again expected over eastern portions of the state, the briefing states.

The winds could be strong enough to down trees and cause some power outages, forecasters said. Conditions on area lakes and rivers will be extremely dangerous and driving high-profile vehicles could be difficult, according to the briefing.

Forecasters said heavy rainfall is possible, which could cause localized flash flooding.

Showers and thunderstorms will progress east across the state throughout the day Wednesday, the briefing states.

The severe weather threat is expected to increase as storms move into the eastern half of the state by late morning or early afternoon, according to the briefing.

According to the weather service, there have been multiple reports and photos of damage from a possible tornado in Springdale, which includes roof damage to homes and structural damage to an elementary school gymnasium, downed power poles and tree damage.

The Springdale School District is closed today due to power outages and the potential for severe weather according to a news release from the district.

In Polk County, a tree fell on a mobile home, a damage report from the weather service states. The report doesn’t indicate where anyone was injured.

An online map provided by SWEPCO shows that thousands of customers are without power in Washington County.

-- Brianna Kwasnik, with information contributed by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

[GALLERY: Submit your photos of tornado damage in Arkansas » arkansasonline.com/damage]

Copyright © 2022, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc.

Material from the Associated Press is Copyright © 2022, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. Neither these AP materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and noncommercial use. The AP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing. All rights reserved.