Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2000

F1 tornado, Cerrogordo to De Queen, Arkansas, April 23, 2000

From Cerrogordo to De Queen, this F1 tornado ran 13.0 miles across Sevier and Little River counties on April 23, 2000, touching down at 4:54 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $2,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
April 23, 2000
Touchdown
4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
Path length
13.0 miles (20.9 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
Counties
Sevier and Little River counties
Touchdown point
33.930, -94.470
Lift-off point
34.020, -94.280
Record number
728

What the Weather Service recorded

Supercells developed in unstable airmass ahead of a multicellular squall line which moved southeast across the area. Both the supercells and squall line produced tornadoes. Damage patch consisted of numerous snapped and fallen small trees. The tornado moved thorugh a wooded region away from any population with few structures present. This tornado moved into Sevier County, AR.

Supercells developed in unstable airmass ahead of a multicellular squall line which moved east across the area. Both the supercells and squall line produced tornadoes. Damage consisted mainly of numerous snapped and fallen small trees. Shingles were partially removed from one roof and a swing set was tossed 100 feet at another home. This tornado moved into Sevier County, AR from Little River County, AR.

This tornado occurred over wooded region with few homes or structures in the area. This tornado was one of two which occurred in the same area around the same time.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

27 minutes of warning. NWS SHV issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:27 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:27 UTC22:30 UTCTornado WarningSHV

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:53 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 12:00Z

9.9 hours before the tornado, 176 km from the path. April 23, 2000.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2000-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -69022, lifted condensation level 721 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2000-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 271 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69022 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
721 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
416 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

2.1 hours after it, 176 km from the path. April 24, 2000.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2000-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1042 joules per kilogram, CIN -107, lifted condensation level 1141 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2000-04-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 368 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1042 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-107 J/kg
Surface CAPE
879 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1141 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
368 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
558 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.0
Supercell composite
11.5
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Texarkana Regional/Webb (TXK), 68 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:53 UTC71.664.4170° 16 kt1000
20:53 UTC7065160° 13 kt997.6
21:53 UTC6866.2160° 12 kt998+TSRA BR

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 23, 2000

32 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 232:22 PM CDTF1Pittsburg, OK2.01205$250,000
April 232:41 PM CDTF2Red River, TX12.570
April 232:48 PM CDTF0Hopkins, TX4.01002$30,000
April 233:08 PM CDTF2McCurtain, OK20.1502$40,000
April 233:11 PM CDTF2Pushmataha, OK9.0150$250,000
April 233:25 PM CDTF0LeFlore, OK0.250
April 233:37 PM CDTF2Pushmataha, OK9.0170$30,000
April 233:53 PM CDTF2Titus, TX16.8150$170,000
April 233:58 PM CDTF1McCurtain, OK17.270
April 234:10 PM CDTF2Morris, TX7.0180$10,000
April 234:22 PM CDTF2Cass, TX11.8150
April 234:34 PM CDTF1Harrison, TX4.5100
April 234:39 PM CDTF2Harrison, TX10.6150$8.0 million
April 234:56 PM CDTF2Cass, TX14.0150$250,000
April 234:57 PM CDTF1Sevier, AR9.750
April 234:58 PM CDTF1Cass, TX12.570
April 234:58 PM CDTF3Cass, TX16.0880$170,000
April 235:01 PM CDTF0Howard, AR3.8200
April 235:02 PM CDTF2Harrison, TX17.0100
April 235:10 PM CDTF1Caddo Parish, LA8.0500$1.0 million
April 235:25 PM CDTF0Hempstead, AR2.4200$20,000
April 235:30 PM CDTF1Harrison, TX5.0100
April 235:40 PM CDTF3Caddo Parish, LA32.55003$7.3 million
April 235:40 PM CDTF2Bossier Parish, LA37.2700$2.8 million
April 235:51 PM CDTF1Panola, TX7.050
April 236:28 PM CDTF1Lafayette, AR8.0300$1.2 million
April 236:46 PM CDTF2De Soto Parish, LA8.5150$750,000
April 237:05 PM CDTF3Red River Parish, LA19.3200$2.0 million
April 237:05 PM CDTF1Caddo Parish, LA8.01506$11 million
April 237:16 PM CDTF2Bienville Parish, LA4.3200$120,000
April 238:30 PM CDTF1Jackson Parish, LA2.5301$170,000
April 239:50 PM CDTF2LaSalle Parish, LA2.3150$750,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.