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EF1 tornado in Van Buren County, Arkansas

Tornado December 23, 2015 · Van Buren County, Arkansas

EF1

Rating

0.2 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

$80K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

A home was destroyed by a weak, brief tornado east of Bee Branch during the morning hours of the 23rd.

The wider storm

A strong storm system and cold front approached the state from the west, with showers and thunderstorms developing during the early morning hours west of Arkansas. These storms then surged east into Arkansas after sunrise on the 23rd, bringing severe weather to portions of the state.

Began near Morganton (35.4345, -92.3409).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 611645. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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