EF2 Tornado — Cleburne, Arkansas

2008-05-02 · near Crossroads, Cleburne, Arkansas

Event narrative

This tornado exited Van Buren County, east-northeast of Morganton, and moved into Cleburne County, northwest of Crossroads. Across the county, 194 homes received damage. This included 27 houses and five mobile homes destroyed, 66 homes with major damage, and 96 homes with minor damage. A dog kennel, two chicken houses, and a beauty shop were destroyed. Minor damage was done to two chicken houses, a rock quarry, a flea market, a boat storage facility, a beauty shop, a fire department, a print shop, and a community ball park. At least 19 boats and party barges sank in Greers Ferry Lake. Removal of the vessels and clean-up of the spilled fuel and fluids continued well into June. About 6800 homes and businesses lost power. In addition to power lines and poles being blown down, one transmission line and one substation were damaged. Approximately 250 dogs and puppies were killed, along with two horses, and hundreds of chickens.

Wider weather episode

A line of thunderstorms pushed into western Arkansas early on the morning of May 2nd. During the morning and afternoon hours, severe thunderstorms developed out ahead of the line and produced tornadoes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.4864, -92.2497)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 92158. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.