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EF2 tornado in Arkansas County, Arkansas

Tornado January 22, 2012 · Arkansas County, Arkansas

EF2
Rating
14.4 mi
Path length
400 yd
Path width
$1.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 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

Initially, the tornado badly damaged an old barn and tore the tin off a tractor shed. North of DeWitt, four large, steel transmission towers were blown down, an elevator was blown off some grain bins, a roof was damaged, and a travel trailer was overturned. Farther to the northeast, a truck trailer was blown over, trees were blown down, and tin was blown off roofs.

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 Olena (34.3290, -91.4269).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Calhoun CountyEF2 Jefferson CountyEF1 Jefferson CountyEF1 Arkansas CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Lonoke County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 355500. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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