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EF1 tornado in Pope County, Arkansas

Tornado February 5, 2008 · Pope County, Arkansas

EF1
Rating
121.8 mi
Whole path
100 yd
Path width
13
Deaths
139
Injuries
$119.3M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Yell County → Pope County → Yell County → Pope County → Conway County → Van Buren County → Stone County → Izard County → Sharp County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

The tornado from Yell County tracked into the Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge in Pope County. Damage was limited to trees being blown down on the southeast side of the refuge. The tornado then tracked back into Yell County, in the Carden Bottoms area.

The wider storm

Early on the 5th, a strong storm system approached from the Plains. Ahead of the system, breezy southerly winds provided well above normal temperatures and abundant moisture. Warmth and moisture destabilized the atmosphere and fueled developing thunderstorms. A cold front moved across the state causing numerous severe storms and several tornadoes. One of the tornadoes tracked from Yell County to Sharp County, staying on the ground for 121.84 miles. This track length set a record for the longest tornado path ever recorded in Arkansas. The continuous track was confirmed by two National Weather Service meteorologists who flew the track with the Civil Air Patrol. The final track was based on ground surveys, the Civil Air Patrol flight, and an aerial mapping flight performed for the Arkansas Forestry Commission.

Began near Holla Bend (35.1176, -93.0528).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Baxter County 1 deadEF1 Faulkner CountyEF0 Yell CountyEF0 Monroe County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 80991. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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