EF2 Tornado — Johnson, Arkansas

2011-05-24 · near Coal Hill, Johnson, Arkansas

Event narrative

This is the sixth and final segment of a six-segment tornado. (The first, third, and fifth segments occurred in Franklin County in the Tulsa County Warning Area.) The tornado moved out of Franklin County north of Alix and entered Johnson County northwest of Coal Hill. In Johnson County, the tornado first moved through the Centerpoint community, knocking down trees in the cemetery and badly damaging several residences. The tornado next moved on to the Bethlehem community, where several mobile homes were destroyed and some additional residences were damaged. A 31 year-old woman in one of the mobile homes was killed and approximately 11 other people were injured. The tornado next moved on to Harmony, damaging additional residences, barns, chicken houses, and outbuildings, before continuing into the Ozark National Forest. Damage also occurred near Ozone before the tornado lifted farther to the northeast in the forest. Altogether, at least 65 residences were damaged or destroyed in Johnson County.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed ahead of a cold front to the west of Arkansas on the evening of the 24th, entered western Arkansas during the late evening hours, and continued into the wee hours of the 25th. Severe weather, including two killer tornadoes, occurred in western Arkansas. After a lull in activity during the morning of the 25th, some severe weather redeveloped farther to the east in the state during the afternoon.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.4560, -93.7074)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 308462. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.