EF3 Tornado — Craighead, Arkansas

2025-04-02 · near Davis, Craighead, Arkansas

Event narrative

The tornado moved into Craighead county and intensified as it crossed I-555, snapping utility poles along Highway 463 and derailing a train on Main Street just southeast of Bay, AR. The tornado snapped additional wooden utility poles along Highway 158 east of Bay and gained strength as it moved northeast. Several high-tension power line trusses were heavily damaged or destroyed north of County Road 672 and west of County Road 683. Significant damage to trees and a home was noted on County Roads 686 and 682, but the damage became more widespread as the tornado entered Lake City. Several homes suffered significant damage near the intersection of Highways 18 and 135. A few damage indicators in this area indicated high-end EF3 wind speeds of up to 160 mph, but most of the structures maintained at least some wall structures, precluding a higher rating. Some stubbed trees were noted in this area as well, with minor debarking observed, possibly enhanced by flying debris. Additional significant tree and power line damage was surveyed along County Road 984, followed by more sporadic damage over agricultural land. Structural damage ramped back up as the tornado approached Monette. Several homes suffered significant damage on the west and northern sides of Monette. The tornado moved northeast into the Delfore area, likely lifting just before reaching the Mississippi County line. There were zero fatalities and eight injuries reported with this tornado. Peak winds estimated 160 mph.

Wider weather episode

A significant multi-hazard, multi-day event occurred across the Mid-South from April 2, 2025, to April 8, 2025, producing 35 tornadoes, record flooding, and numerous reports of damaging winds and large hail. A large upper-level trough covered the Western U.S. in early April. A significant piece of energy rotated around the base of the trough and ejected into the Southern Plains and the Middle-Upper Mississippi Valley on April 2nd. A 500 mb jet maximum of 120 knots and a 300 mb jet maximum of 140 knots pushed into Iowa by late afternoon on April 2nd. Meanwhile, a 992 mb surface low moved into the Upper Mississippi Valley with a trailing cold front pushing toward the Mid-South. A secondary, weaker surface low developed over northeast Arkansas and helped to back surface winds. The warm sector across the Mid-South was potent with surface dewpoints climbing into the upper 60s and MLCAPE values climbing to 2000-3000 J/kg. Increasing upper-level divergence occurred in the entrance region of the upper jet, resulting in strong lift across the Mid-South and storm initiation in the increasingly moist and unstable airmass. Hodographs were long, strongly curved, and supportive of tornadoes. Discrete supercells intensified across the Mid-South during the evening as 0-6 km bulk shear values increased to 60-70 knots, and 0-1 km helicity values increased to 300-400 m2/s2. Fifteen tornadoes occurred from late afternoon on April 2nd through about 2 am on April 3rd, including four EF-3s. This period represented the most significant period of severe weather during the event.

The cold front stalled across the Mid-South on April 3rd while moist southwesterly flow aloft continued and anomalous precipitable water values prevailed across the region. Heavy rain fell across northern sections of the Mid-South into the morning hours of April 3rd. Rainfall amounts of 3-4 inches were common across east-central Arkansas, West Tennessee, and extreme northwest Mississippi, along with scattered instances of flash flooding. By the afternoon of April 3rd, the airmass south of the stalled front destabilized and storms strengthened thanks to a 90-knot mid-level jet maximum moving through Missouri. These storms produced wind damage, large hail, flash flooding, and a tornado east of Corinth. Heavy rain continued into the early morning hours on April 4th when the front eventually lifted north of the area, resulting in a relative lull during the day on April 4th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.7050, -90.5780)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1256952. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.