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EF2 tornado in Pulaski County, Arkansas

Tornado April 3, 2008 · Pulaski County, Arkansas

EF2
Rating
7.1 mi
Path length
800 yd
Path width
$12.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 tornado began in North Little Rock, south of St. Joseph's Orphanage, near the intersection of Camp Robinson Rd. and Donovan Briley Blvd. It passed through the southeast corner of Camp Joseph T. Robinson, moved across the North Little Rock Airport, continued through parts of Sherwood and Sylvan Hills, and ended on the north side of Gravel Ridge. At the North Little Rock Airport, a number of the hangars suffered substantial damage. Virtually all of the small planes that had been tied down on the parking apron were overturned. A DC3 aircraft rolled about 1/4 mile from the parking apron, across a runway, and into a ditch. A small plane was trapped beneath the DC3 as it rolled along. At the National Weather Service, located at the airport, the staff took shelter for a few minutes in the office's concrete-reinforced safe room. Damage at the weather office was limited to a flagpole, birdhouse, and TV antenna being blown down. At Sylvan Hills High School, a considerable amount of roof damage occurred. The Sherwood Sports Complex, adjacent to the school, suffered substantial damage. Nearby, a tornado siren was blown down. The greatest amount of residential damage occurred in the Hidden Creek subdivision, and on to the northeast on Loop Rd., Kellogg Acres Rd., and Oakdale Rd.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Levy (34.8133, -92.2744).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 92034. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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