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EF1 tornado in Polk County, Arkansas

Tornado October 6, 2008 · Polk County, Arkansas

EF1

Rating

3.4 mi

Path length

250 yd

Path width

$75K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

Numerous trees were blown down, as were a few power lines. A couple of the falling trees landed on the edge of houses' roofs. Several old chicken houses being used as hay barns were damaged. An old barn and a few outbuildings were destroyed, the tin was taken off a couple of barn roofs, an old garage was blown off its foundation, and much of the tin roof was taken off another garage. Shingles were blown off a couple of houses.

The wider storm

An area of low pressure, and an accompanying cold front, approached from the west and collided with an air mass that was much more humid than normal for early fall.

Began near Ink (34.5838, -94.1453).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 130565. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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