EF2 Tornado — Benton, Arkansas

2019-10-20 · near Siloam Spgs, Benton, Arkansas

Event narrative

This tornado developed on the north side of Siloam Springs. It moved along Highway 412, and then across the southern portion of the Siloam Springs airport, as well as a housing subdivision east of the airport. The roof was blown off a business, many homes and businesses sustained roof damage, several hangars at the airport were damaged, numerous trees were uprooted, and power poles were snapped. The tornado became very large and moved east-northeast from the east side of Siloam Springs. The roof of a wood-framed permanent home was entirely removed, and a large, well-built, wood-framed outbuilding was destroyed on Andria Circle, which are the primary damage indicators that resulted in the EF-2 rating. These structures were on a hill, and nearby hardwood trees were snapped, homes were damaged with windows blown out and roof structures lifted off the frame of the house and set back down. The tornado continued to move east-northeast across Highfill and Cave Springs, and into Rogers. Numerous homes were damaged, outbuildings were destroyed, many power poles were blown down, and numerous trees were uprooted. A metal building structure that was open-aired on the south side sustained severe damage. Businesses in the Pinnacle Hills area of Rogers were damaged. From Rogers, the tornado moved northeast, crossing inlets of Beaver Lake before dissipating. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 110 to 120 mph.

Wider weather episode

Thunderstorms developed over central Oklahoma during the early evening of the 20th, along and just ahead of a cold front moving into the area. The atmosphere ahead of the front was very unstable. Wind fields across the region strengthened with the approach of a strong upper level storm system, and very strong wind shear developed over northwestern Arkansas by late evening. The thunderstorms moved across eastern Oklahoma during the evening, and organized into a solid line of thunderstorms before they moved into northwest Arkansas. The thunderstorms produced very strong downburst wind as they moved through the region. Several tornadoes developed along the leading edge of the thunderstorm line, one of which was long-track and strong.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.1778, -94.5310)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 862916. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.