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EF2 tornado in Cleburne County, Arkansas

Tornado May 2, 2008 · Cleburne County, Arkansas

EF2
Rating
45.3 mi
Whole path
1,200 yd
Path width
5
Deaths
24
Injuries
$47.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Conway County → Van Buren County → Cleburne County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,200 yards (0.68 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

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.

The wider storm

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.

Began near Crossroads (35.4864, -92.2497).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 92158. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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