EF3 Tornado — Pulaski, Arkansas
2023-03-31 · near Martindale, Pulaski, Arkansas
Event narrative
This tornado started just southwest of the Colonel
Glenn and Marsh Road intersection in Martindale, west of Marsh road,
uprooting trees and ripping a portion of a roof off an outbuilding.
The tornado then continued northeast across a forested area,
uprooting several more trees before crossing into a neighborhood off
Capitol Hill Boulevard near Hartford and Denver Streets. More
trees were uprooted as it moved northeast towards Kanis Road.
The tornado rapidly intensified as it passed northeast over Chenal
Parkway, severely damaging several apartment buildings off of Napa
Valley Drive. The most severe residential damage occurred at these
apartments, and along and west of North Shackleford Road along
Jamestown Drive and Cobble Hill Road. Most exterior walls had
collapsed on several homes, leaving just some interior walls
standing.
The tornado then crossed Interstate 430 near the North Rodney Parham Road
interchange, damaging a shopping center and a Kroger. Between Interstate 430
and Cantrell Road, many homes and apartments were severely damage,
with roofs ripped off and hundreds of trees uprooted. The tornado
crossed Cantrell Road near Foxtrot Road, damaging more apartments
and many businesses. Between Cantrell Road and the Arkansas River,
many more homes were damaged from the tornado winds or trees falling
onto those homes in the Cammack Village neighborhood. Before
crossing the river, many trees were uprooted or trunks snapped at
Murray Park. The tornado then uprooted or snapped hundreds, if
not thousands of trees at Burns Park, both north and south of Interstate
40. The tornado crossed Interstate 40 just west of exit 150, passing over
ball fields and recreation areas west of Military Drive. A new
fire station still under construction was also damaged along
Military Drive.
The tornado then passed over MacArther Drive near the Military Drive
intersection in Amboy, severely damaging many more homes and businesses.
Several more homes and apartments were damaged between Military Drive
and Remount Road, with the tornado passing over Remount Road between
Kierre Drive and Camp Robinson Road. Most of the damage in these areas
consisted of severe roof damage and uprooted trees, though there were
some homes who completely lost their roofs.
The tornado then moved into the Indian Hills neighborhood of North Little
Rock, with more damaged roofs. A few homes along Flintrock Road near
Osage Drive lost their entire roofs, along with many homes damaged by trees
falling onto homes. The tornado seemed to weaken a bit as it
passed over North Hills Boulevard, with some less severe roof
damage and many uprooted trees. The tornado crossed over John F.
Kennedy Boulevard near Club Road, traveling northeast through
Sherwood generally along Lee Avenue, damaging many more homes as
it continued towards Kiehl Avenue. The tornado crossed over Kiehl
Avenue near Northgate Drive and Woodridge Lane, damaging more
homes and some businesses. This tornado passed over Brockington
Road north of Kiehl Avenue, ripping a roof off an apartment
building along Calloway Avenue, then passing over Indianhead Lake
uprooting several more trees and damaging more roofs.
The tornado then passed over rural marsh land just northwest of U.S. Highway 67 near
the Interstate 440 interchange, uprooting more trees before crossing U.S. Highway
67 near the Redmond Road exit at Jacksonville. A tractor-trailer
was flipped over along U.S. Highway 67, along with damage to signage along
the road. The tornado moved over the ball fields south of Redmond
Road, then into some neighborhoods where the tornado seemed to
strengthen, severely damaging more homes and businesses along
Stone and McHenry Streets, Eastview Drive and South 1st Street. A
church was completely destroyed along North Elm Street south of
Graham Road. More homes were damaged north of Graham Road west of
J. P. Wright Loop Road before the tornado passed over the Holland
Bottoms State Wildlife Area west of Kerr Station Road. Many trees
were snapped or uprooted in this wildlife area. This tornado was rated an EF3 with maximum estimated winds of 165 mph within Pulaski County. This tornado continued into Lonoke County.
Wider weather episode
A powerful storm system and associated upper trough propagated across the Central Plains into the the Mid-Mississippi Valley. Showers and thunderstorms developed in response to the passing trough triggering strong to severe thunderstorms across Arkansas.
View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.7251, -92.4824)
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1089117. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.