EF2 Tornado — Lonoke, Arkansas

2011-04-15 · near Pettus, Lonoke, Arkansas

Event narrative

A tornado destroyed 51 large steel power transmission towers. These towers carried 500 kilovolt transmission lines. For the most part, the towers fell into open farm fields, but one fell into a pond on a fish farm. The power cables that fell with the towers blocked a number of roads, including Arkansas Highway 31. Power poles, power lines, and trees were blown down as well.

Wider weather episode

A cold front and strong area of low pressure aloft approached Arkansas on the 14th. The result was an outbreak of severe weather from the evening of the 14th through the pre-dawn hours of the 15th. Several tornadoes occurred. Additionally, storms developed into line segments which often bowed out, creating damaging thunderstorm winds.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.6494, -91.9650)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 289563. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.