EF1 tornado in Independence County, Arkansas

Tornado May 25, 2011 · Independence County, Arkansas

EF1

Rating

5.5 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

$40K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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

An EF1 tornado touched down east of Oil Trough. Several power poles were snapped and many trees were blown down. Some homes received roof damage. The tornado exited Independence County east-southeast of Paroquet and entered Jackson County west-southwest of Reamey.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Elmo (35.6200, -91.4100).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Franklin County 4 dead EF3 Johnson County 1 dead

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 308994. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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