Tornado touches down in Arkansas town

The National Weather Service in Little Rock said a tornado touched down Wednesday in Pope County as a severe storm system moved through Arkansas.

The weather service reported at 7:20 p.m. that a rain-wrapped tornado was on the ground on Gunter Mountain Road in Hector, a town of about 500 people northeast of Scottsville.

Meteorologist Joe Goudsward said later Wednesday that the storm, which produced wind gusts between 60 mph and 70 mph, had knocked down trees in Garland County and produced quarter-sized hail in Boone and Baxter counties, but there had been no reports of injuries or serious property damage late Wednesday.

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The western half of Arkansas, including Little Rock, was under a tornado watch until midnight Wednesday. Much of the eastern half of the state was under a severe weather warning.

Goudsward said the storm system had "the capability of producing a tornado at any given time," but no other tornadoes had been confirmed late Wednesday.

Metro on 03/30/2017

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