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EF1 tornado in White County, Arkansas

Tornado April 30, 2010 · White County, Arkansas

EF1
Rating
34.7 mi
Whole path
350 yd
Path width
$5.2M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pulaski County → Lonoke County → White County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 350 yards (0.20 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 exited Lonoke County north-northeast of Jacksons Store and entered White County southeast of Beebe. A Red Cross survey indicated the following damage in White County: two houses and one mobile home were destroyed, two houses had major damage, one house and two mobile homes had minor damage, and two other houses were affected. Numerous trees were blown down.

The wider storm

Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico surged into Arkansas at the end of April, so conditions in the state became warm and humid. On the 30th, a strong area of low pressure aloft approached from the west, resulting in the development of thunderstorms. Wind shear, a change in wind direction and speed with height, was present. This created a favorable environment for the formation of tornadoes.

Began near Beebe (35.0246, -91.8557).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 219959. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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