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EF1 tornado in Garland County, Arkansas

Tornado January 2, 2023 · Garland County, Arkansas

EF1

Rating

2.1 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$5.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado began just to the southwest of Jessieville, causing tree damage around an Arkansas Forestry Commission building. The tornado then quickly moved northeast into Jessieville, and caused damage to a few homes in town. Most notably, damage was noted to several buildings on the campus of Jessieville High School, and three out of four fixed light poles for the football field were bent over. The tornado continued to move northeast, doing damage to a pole barn just north of town, before finally dissipating.

The wider storm

A few strong to severe thunderstorms moved across Arkansas on the afternoon and evening of the 2nd. Damaging winds and a tornado occurred over portions of far southeast Arkansas. Over central and northern Arkansas, storms occurred but damage was highly localized. Another tornado moved through Jessieville causing damage.

Began near Blakely (34.6940, -93.0673).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Desha County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1069133. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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