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The National Weather Service alerts in force for Sebastian County right now — tornado, thunderstorm and flood warnings — with the wind at Fort Smith and how to get warned indoors.
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Heat Advisory
Yellow · until Sun 8:00 PM
Fort Smith sits in the Arkansas River Valley on the eastern edge of Tornado Alley, and spring and fall bring fast, dangerous weather — tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash flooding and the odd hard freeze. It is not an alert service: when a warning is out, act on it now and don't wait for this page to refresh.
As of Sun, August 23 at 7:44 PM.
* WHAT...Heat index values 105 to 110 expected. * WHERE...Portions of northwest and west central Arkansas and east central, northeast, and southeast Oklahoma. * WHEN...Until 8 PM CDT this evening. * IMPACTS...Heat related illnesses are possible especially impacting those not acclimated to the conditions or those performing strenuous activities.
Take extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose fitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning or evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
A light breeze (about 8 km/h, gusts to 10), out of the east.
Strongest gusts forecast over the next 24 hours: about 37 km/h. Wind words follow the Beaufort scale. This is a weather model’s forecast for the hour, not a measurement — exposed ground above town will see more.
When a warning is in force
Official warnings, forwarded the moment the national service issues one for the area — headline and all, in its own words. Nothing in between. No account, one-click unsubscribe.
A tornado rated F3 crossed west Fort Smith into Van Buren late on April 21, 1996, killing two children, injuring dozens and damaging around 1,800 homes and much of the historic downtown. The Weather Service later reported it had issued only a severe thunderstorm warning — from Tulsa, the radar was overshooting the storm, so the tornado threat looked like it was fading — and downed phone lines meant the sirens were never sounded. The lesson locals took: don't rely on the sirens alone. Have more than one way to get a warning.
The city runs about 31 outdoor warning sirens (Fort Smith Police), tested on calm days most weeks. They are meant to reach people who are outside — you may not hear them indoors, asleep or over an air conditioner. Treat a siren as one signal among several, not your only one. Sirens concerns line: 479-709-5000.
Turn on Wireless Emergency Alerts on your phone (tornado warnings come through automatically, no sign-up), and consider a NOAA Weather Radio set to the Sebastian County SAME code 005131. Sign up for the county's emergency notifications through Sebastian County Emergency Management. When a tornado warning is issued, go to a small interior room on the lowest floor, away from windows.
Alert data: U.S. National Weather Service, source weather.gov — a public-domain product of the U.S. federal government. Alerts are shown as issued; this page reads the active alerts the NWS has posted for Sebastian County. Wind forecast: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0). This page is not an alert service — sign up to the official channels above.