EF2 Tornado — Saline, Arkansas

2008-04-03 · near Bauxite Jct, Saline, Arkansas

Event narrative

A tornado began on the northeast side of Benton and ended on the northwest side of Bryant. The tornado caused major damage to four houses and minor damage to 20 houses. It also traveled through the Hurricane Lake Mobile Home Park, destroying 22 mobile homes, and causing major damage to 11 mobile homes, and minor damage to 10 mobile homes. Major damage occurred at a car dealership on Interstate 30, where more than 150 vehicles were damaged, many of which had windshields or rear windows blown out. Diagonally across the interstate from the car dealership, a lumber yard suffered substantial damage.

Wider weather episode

The event began with a warm front moving north from the Gulf Coast region on the 3rd. The front was followed by above normal temperatures and abundant moisture. There was plenty of fuel for developing thunderstorms. A large area of showers and thunderstorms developed near the stalled front in northern and western Arkansas during the evening of the 3rd.

During the early morning hours of the 4th, it became a heavy rain event.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.5891, -92.5476)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 92002. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.