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EF2 tornado in Dallas County, Arkansas

Tornado January 22, 2012 · Dallas County, Arkansas

EF2
Rating
19.6 mi
Whole path
550 yd
Path width
$4.1M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 550 yards (0.31 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 Calhoun County north-northwest of Thornton and entered Dallas County west-southwest of Beech Grove. Soon after entering the county, the tornado increased to EF2 intensity. The clubhouse at the Fordyce Country Club was badly damaged and the bathhouse was blown into the swimming pool. The tornado then knocked down two large, steel power transmission towers, causing the transmission lines to fall across Arkansas 273, where a motorist ran into them. Next, the tornado tracked through the northern side of Fordyce, where the damage was the most extensive. A damage survey by the American Red Cross indicated 11 single family dwellings (including 3 mobile homes) were destroyed, 6 had major damage, and 5 had minor damage. In addition to the structural damage, hundreds of trees and many power lines were blown down. The tornado exited Dallas County north of the Fordyce airport and entered Cleveland County west-northwest of Kingsland.

The wider storm

The day of the 22nd began cloudy, chilly, and foggy across most of Arkansas. During the day, however, much warmer air surged northward across much of the state. In the evening, a cold front plowed into the warmth and moisture, triggering severe thunderstorms and seven tornadoes.

Began near Beech Grove (33.7998, -92.4902).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 355491. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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