EF1 Tornado — Grant, Arkansas

2013-05-30 · near Tull, Grant, Arkansas

Event narrative

A brief EF1 tornado caused damage, mainly to trees. However, one of these trees killed a 33 year-old man when it fell on his car. He was driving on Main St./Arkansas 291 in Tull on his way to work. This was the first tornado fatality in Grant County in more than 60 years. A few houses had minor roof damage.

Wider weather episode

The approach of low pressure aloft triggered numerous thunderstorms from the 30th into the early morning hours of the 31st. Tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash flooding occurred. The flooding killed six people, and the tornadoes killed one. The same weather system caused severe storms and flash flooding again on June 1st. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, a band of very heavy rain fell from Waldron and Mena to Conway and Little Rock and then on to Newport and Augusta. Within this band, rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches were common, and isolated totals exceeded 7 inches. Also on the evening of the 30th, 3.09 inches of rain fell in one hour at Little Rock, breaking the all-time record for the greatest amount of rain in one hour in the city. The previous record was 3.00 inches on May 26, 1955. President Barack Obama declared federal disasters in these counties: Cleburne, Independence, Montgomery, Polk, Scott, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren, and Woodruff.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.4355, -92.5823)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 444340. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.