Thunderstorm Wind — Van Buren, Arkansas

2023-02-16 · near Una, Van Buren, Arkansas

Event narrative

This is a delayed report. A NWS employee on a tornado survey noted several trees down and large limbs snapped along AR State Hwy. 16.

Wider weather episode

Storms developed from the evening hours on the 15th and continued through the early morning hours on the 16th. Large hail, measured wind gusts above 60 mph and three tornadoes occurred during this event.

This event had two areas of interest. Across the northeast counties, hit and miss thunderstorms popped up, and these were expected to intensify. Meanwhile, a line of storms arrived in the northwest (Ozark Mountains) from Oklahoma, and forecast models showed a weakening trend. In the end, the northeast storms did not amount to much, and storms in the northwest did not fall apart.

The northwest storms showed rotation at times on radar, and Tornado Warnings were issued. This was understandable as values of instability and shear (acquired through balloon launches/soundings) doubled in six hours (from 600 pm CST on the 15th to 1200 am CST on the 16th)! It was a scary situation because the warnings went out in the middle of the night while people were asleep.

Three tornadoes were spawned, and tracked through portions of Marion, Newton, and Searcy Counties. The strongest of these (rated EF2) cut a swath from near Pindall (Searcy County) to a few miles southeast of Bruno (Marion County). A house on a hilltop (directly exposed to the wind) shifted off of its foundation and partially collapsed. Another home was heavily damaged (loss of roof and an outer wall), and part of a roof was removed from a third home. Barns and sheds were roughed up or destroyed, and trees were uprooted or snapped. At least a half dozen roads were blocked by tree debris including Highway 65 (which was closed temporarily). A couple of people suffered minor injuries.

The other two tornadoes (rated EF1) hit in and around Canaan (Searcy County) and along Highway 21 northeast of Fallsville (Newton County). Mainly tree damage was noted, especially with the latter tornado. Any structural damage was generally minor.

Other than the tornadoes, golf ball size hail was reported at Lurton (Newton County) and Ozone (Johnson County). A 62 mph gust was measured at Conway Regional Airport (Faulkner County).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.6600, -92.7600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1080984. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.