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EF1 tornado in Ouachita County, Arkansas

Tornado October 29, 2009 · Ouachita County, Arkansas

EF1
Rating
42.9 mi
Whole path
25 yd
Path width
$3.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Union County → Ouachita County → Union County → Calhoun County → Ouachita County → Calhoun County → Calhoun County → Ouachita County → Ouachita County → Dallas County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 25 yards (0.01 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

After damaging the campus of Southern Arkansas University Tech, this tornado continued tracking through the Highland Industrial Park, passing from the Calhoun County portion into the Ouachita County portion. The tornado knocked down a few trees and then ended quickly.

The wider storm

A large storm system in the Rockies headed through the Plains into the upper Midwest on the 29th. Rain increased ahead of the system, and became widespread in Arkansas. Meanwhile, a cold front arrived from the west. Because the system was so far to the north, it did not give the front much push. The front slowed down, which prolonged the rain. The result was widespread flash flooding, which gave way to areal flooding and river flooding. Winds changed direction and speed up through the atmosphere, a favorable condition for tornadoes. However, instability was sufficient only in southern Arkansas for the development of tornadoes.

Began near Shumaker (33.6495, -92.7039).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Ouachita CountyEF1 Jefferson CountyEF1 Scott CountyEF1 Grant CountyEF1 Grant CountyEF0 Lonoke County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 196816. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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