EF2 tornado in Randolph County, Arkansas

A storm survey crew from the NWS Office in Little Rock found tornado consistent with an EF2 rating. A house sustained major roof damage on Highway 328 west of Maynard, with most of the walls still standing. An agricultural shop was destroyed 2 miles south of Biggers.

The tornado started just southeast of US67/62 southwest of

Biggers, destroying a metal farm building and snapping trees

along Lutrell Cemetery Road. The tornado continued northwest

blowing in some garage doors on some large metal buildings, along

with snapping limbs off of multiple trees along Gas Plant and

Biggers-Reyno roads. The tornado continued northwest for several

miles, causing mainly damage to trees, from broken limbs, to

uprooting or snapping those tree trunks. The worst damage was

observed at a site built home off of State Hwy 328 and Jerrett

Loop Road southwest of Maynard, where large sections of the roof

were torn off allowing a couple walls to fall inward. At the same

residence, a large metal outbuilding or barn was destroyed. Many

mature trees were snapped or uprooted around this location. The

tornado finally lifted further northwest along State Hwy 251

south of Palestine Road.

Tropical Storm Laura moved ashore from the Gulf of Mexico near Cameron, LA, around 1200 AM CST on August 27, 2020 with 150 mph sustained winds! This part of the state had never experienced such a powerful (Category 4) hurricane. Measured gusts exceeded 130 mph in Lake Charles, LA. Not only was there widespread structural damage, a television tower was destroyed and the WSR-88D (Doppler Weather Radar) at the local National Weather Service (NWS) office was obliterated. Staff at the office was evacuated prior to the arrival of Laura, with backup provided by NWS Brownsville, TX.

Laura remained a hurricane well inland as the system ventured to the north at around 15 mph. A swath of heavy rain (two to more than five inches) spread into southern, central, and northeast Arkansas in the twenty four hour period ending at 700 am CDT on the 28th. Fordyce (Dallas County) received 5.25 inches of precipitation, with 4.48 inches at Cabot (Lonoke County), 4.39 inches at Marche (Pulaski County), 4.37 inches at North Little Rock (Pulaski County), 4.17 inches at Keo (Lonoke County), 3.85 inches at Calamine (Sharp County), 3.60 inches at Stuttgart (Arkansas County), 3.55 inches at Batesville (Independence County) and El Dorado (Union County), 3.53 inches at Sheridan (Grant County), and 3.50 inches at Alicia (Lawrence County).

The atmosphere was loaded with moisture, and this created high rainfall rates. Water came down faster than it could be carried away, and roads flooded at Benton (Saline County), North Little Rock and Sherwood (both in Pulaski County), Walnut Ridge and near Ravenden (both in Lawrence County), and a few miles east of Mena (Polk County).