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EF1 tornado in Pike County, Arkansas

Tornado April 9, 2009 · Pike County, Arkansas

EF1

Rating

40.1 mi

Whole path

525 yd

Path width

Injuries

$5.1M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through McCurtain County, Oklahoma → Sevier County → Howard County → Pike County → Pike County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 525 yards (0.30 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

This tornado moved out of Howard County, and entered Pike County southwest of New Hope. Hundreds of trees were knocked down or snapped off in the forest, primarily on private timber company land.

The wider storm

Low pressure aloft approached from the west and collided with moisture and instability. Thunderstorms developed in eastern Oklahoma during the afternoon, then became more numerous as they entered western Arkansas during the evening. The storms brought a few tornadoes and numerous hailstorms to Arkansas during the evening hours.

Began near Grandfield (34.1962, -93.9253).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Polk County 3 dead EF2 Polk County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 154303. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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