EF2 Tornado — Ashley, Arkansas

2023-01-02 · near Berlin, Ashley, Arkansas

Event narrative

This tornado began near the intersection of Ashley 270 Road and Ashley 25 Road west of the Overflow National Wildlife Refuge in southern Ashley County. As it moved northeast, the tornado uprooted, snapped, or damaged trees along its path. It crossed over several highways, county roads, and low-lying areas through the county until it reached Montrose near the intersection of US Highway 82 and 165. There the tornado intensified to its maximum intensity of EF-2 with estimated peak winds of 120 mph. Along US 82 near 9th Street, a small guest home on concrete blocks was pushed off its foundation and destroyed. A nearby mobile home was rolled across three parked cars which were also destroyed. Several sheds and outbuildings were destroyed in the immediate vicinity as well. Widespread damage was common in the western part of town where many homes suffered minor to moderate roof damage. Several trees were uprooted or snapped along with continued minor to moderate residential damage as the tornado moved northeast and across northern Montrose. It crossed US 165 north of Montrose where an outbuilding was destroyed. As the tornado moved into farmland northeast of town, a center pivot irrigation system was destroyed. It continued northeast into Chicot County and across the intersection of Arkansas Highways 144 and 293 where a home and several buildings lost roofing and paneling, and some power poles were blown down. The tornado crossed US Highway 65 and Cedar Road near the Bellaire community in northern Chicot County, blew down a few power poles and damaged a few trees, and then dissipated shortly after crossing into Desha County.

Wider weather episode

A line of storms produce damaging winds and tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.0416, -91.7697)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1101741. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.