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EF3 tornado in Desha County, Arkansas

Tornado February 24, 2007 · Desha County, Arkansas

EF3
Rating
29.1 mi
Whole path
880 yd
Path width
28
Injuries
$45.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

The tornado moved out of Lincoln County and into Desha County about 6 miles southwest of Dumas. The tornado continued to track northeastward and moved across the southeast portion of the city of Dumas and produced significant damage. In Dumas, 25 businesses were destroyed, along with 19 homes. More than 65 additional homes sustained minor to moderate damage. Six mobile homes were destroyed, along with an athletic park. A community building sustained major damage, as well as a 20-unit assisted living center. An electrical substation was destroyed, leaving the area without power for several days. Numerous trees and power lines were also blown down. Farther to the northeast, in the community of Back Gate, 11 mobile homes were destroyed and 12 sustained minor damage. One house was destroyed, along with three that were damaged. The tornado eventually dissipated 4 miles northeast of Pendleton. Altogether, 28 people in the county were injured.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms affected parts of Central and Southeast Arkansas during the afternoon of the 24th. Several isolated supercells moved across the region and produced tornadoes.

Began near Dumas (33.8187, -91.5539).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 18599. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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