EF2 tornado in Saline County, Arkansas

Tornado March 14, 2024 · Saline County, Arkansas

EF2

Rating

8.5 mi

Whole path

1,000 yd

Path width

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Garland County → Saline County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 continued from Garland County into Saline County near Austurias Way in Hot Springs Village. As the tornado approached Montanoso Circle , the roof of a building along the bluff was blown off and thrown approximately 80 yards to the northeast indicating EF-2 damage (115 mph winds). The tornado then appeared to begin weakening as it continued with mainly EF-1 tree damage before lifting near the intersection of Danville Road and Saline County Road 23100. This tornado was rated an EF-2 with estimated maximum winds of 115 mph within Saline County. This tornado tracked for a total of 8.53 miles across the two counties.

The wider storm

An Enhanced risk of severe weather was issued for a large part of northern and western Arkansas. The Enhanced risk would easily verify as a cold front careened into an unstable atmosphere in place across Arkansas. On March 14th, thunderstorms quickly developed ahead of the front with powerful updrafts and limited shear, but enough shear to produce a tornado in Hot Springs Village. Large hail and damaging winds became widespread across much of the state and the event turned into a flash flooding event as storms trained over the same locations across parts of central and southern Arkansas with efficient rainfall rates conducive for flash flooding.

Began near Hot Springs Village (34.6610, -92.9800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1163490. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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