Tropical Storm — Cleburne, Arkansas

2008-09-13 to 2008-09-14 · Cleburne, Arkansas

Event narrative

Trees and power lines were down across the county. Many county roads were blocked from fallen trees and debris. There was damage to homes, storage buildings, businesses and vehicles. A large tree fell on a home east of Heber Springs. At least 39 houses had trees on them. Seven businesses had damage. A church had minor damage to its metal roof and structure. Three barns were damaged. A large tree fell onto power lines north of Spring Park.

Wider weather episode

Tropical Storm Ike moved into Arkansas on the evening of the 13th. By mid evening of the 13th, Ike was located in western Arkansas. Ike weakened to a tropical depression during the wee hours of the 14th, when it was located about 105 miles west-northwest of Little Rock. Ike exited northern Arkansas before sunrise on the 14th. In the Little Rock County Warning Area, wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph were common, and some gusts in the northern part of the state exceeded 50 mph. The strongest gusts measured were 67 mph at the Izard County Fairgrounds in Melbourne and 61 mph at the Newport airport. The strongest sustained wind measured was 46 mph at the Newport airport. Power was knocked out to more than 200,000 electric customers. Wind damage was estimated at just over $30 million. There was one injury due to the winds. The greatest storm total rainfall was 4.60 inches at Big Fork. The lowest barometric pressure was 29.10 inches at Mountain Home. There were seven weak tornadoes, with damage estimated at just over $450,000.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 130298. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.