F3 Tornado — Ashley, Arkansas

2001-11-24 · near Wilmot, Ashley, Arkansas

Event narrative

A supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado that moved out of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana into Ashley County, Arkansas, 6 miles southwest of Wilmot. The tornado then moved to the south end of Lake Enterprise, just west of Wilmot. The tornado strengthened and widened as it approached the Wilmot area and was rated as an F3 with a maximum width of one half mile. The tornado destroyed 14 mobile homes and houses and caused extensive damage to five other homes in the vicinity of Wilmot. A church on the north side of Wilmot was completely destroyed. Additionally, a tractor shed housing farm equipment was destroyed, and the equipment inside was also destroyed. As the tornado tracked northeast toward Parkdale, it damaged or destroyed several cotton pickers, trailers, and tractors. The tornado lifted 2.5 miles east-northeast of Parkdale. The total estimated damage of the tornado was $2.0 million. The tornado caused the deaths of three people in the vicinity of Wilmot. Additionally, a total of eleven people sustained injuries.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.9833, -91.6500)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5272442. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.