EF2 Tornado — St. Francis, Arkansas

2013-12-21 · near Rawlison, St. Francis, Arkansas

Event narrative

A tornado touched down six miles west-southwest of Hughes and traveled north-northeast. Three mobile homes were destroyed near Hughes. Roof damage occurred to two homes and a barn was damaged. A number of irrigation pivots were overturned. Near the community of Wildwood a metal shed was destroyed. Power lines were also damaged along the path. The tornado lifted one mile northwest of Tarsus. The peak winds were estimated at 130 mph.

Wider weather episode

Heavy rain developed along a stalled front across Northeast Arkansas early in the day causing flash flooding. As the day progressed a potent upper level disturbance moved out of the East Texas while a surface low pressure system tracked from Arkansas along the stalled front. Moist and unstable air moved into the Mid-South in advance of the stalled front and the developing low pressure system. As a result a few severe storms developed across parts of East-Central Arkansas during the late afternoon and early evening of December 21st. These storms produced flash flooding, damaging winds and a tornado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.9070, -90.5590)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 484464. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.