Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2005
F1 tornado, Kirby, Arkansas, November 27, 2005
This F1 tornado ran 13.8 miles across Pike County on November 27, 2005, touching down at 4:25 PM CST and reaching 40 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1.
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.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- November 27, 2005
- Touchdown
- 4:25 PM CST (22:25 UTC)
- Path length
- 13.8 miles (22.2 km)
- Path width
- 40 yards (37 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- County
- Pike County
- Touchdown point
- 34.220, -93.650
- Lift-off point
- 34.330, -93.520
- Record number
- 561
What the Weather Service recorded
A weak tornado was spawned in northeastern Pike County roughly 3 miles south-southwest of Kirby and tracked quickly to the northeast. The tornado removed the roof of a barn, and damaged or destroyed several chicken houses. A roof was also partially removed from a mobile home. Numerous trees were downed, especially near Glenwood around a country club. The tornado continued into southeastern Montgomery County.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
20 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:05 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:55 UTC and running to 02:47 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16:00 UTC | 12:00 UTC | Lake Wind Advisory | LZK |
| 20:55 UTC | 02:47 UTC | Tornado Watch | LZK |
| 21:43 UTC | 22:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LZK |
| 22:05 UTC | 23:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LZK |
| 22:59 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LZK |
| 23:56 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LZK |
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, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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
10.4 hours before the tornado, 200 km from the path. November 27, 2005.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5168 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 720 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 212 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 195 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.2 K/km
Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z
1.6 hours after it, 200 km from the path. November 28, 2005.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 222 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -75 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 349 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1274 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 88 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 339 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 477 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.0 K/km
The radar
The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:22 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 14 E Mena | Polk, AR | |
| 21:10 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 10 E Mena | Polk, AR | |
| 21:50 UTC | HAIL 1 | 2 E Dierks | Howard, AR | HAIL OCCURRED 6 MILES NORTH OF CENTER PT. |
| 22:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Dierks | Howard, AR | TREES DOWN. |
| 22:20 UTC | HAIL 1 | Oden | Montgomery, AR | |
| 22:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Kirby | Pike, AR | ROOF BLOWN OFF OF A CHICKEN HOUSE. |
| 22:30 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 9 W Nashville | Howard, AR | |
| 22:37 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ne Kirby | Pike, AR | POSSIBLE TORNADO. DAMAGE ALONG EBENEZER AND ROCK CREEK ROADS. HOUSE TRAILERS...SHOPS...SHEDS...AND CHICKEN HOUSES DAMAGED. |
| 22:45 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Nathan | Pike, AR | |
| 22:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 W Nashville | Howard, AR | 200 FEET OF A TIN ROOF BLOWN OFF A CHICKEN HOUSE IN CENTER PT. |
| 23:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Royal | Garland, AR | DOCKS DESTROYED AND BOATS OVERTURNED AT BRADY MOUNTAIN MARINA. ALSO...REPORT OF PENNY SIZED HAIL. |
| 23:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Pearcy | Garland, AR | TREES DOWN COVERING HIGHWAY 70 WEST. |
| 23:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 S Pearcy | Garland, AR | MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED...ONE MOBILE HOME BLOWN OFF ITS FOUNDATION. |
| 23:43 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | Sunshine | Garland, AR | REPORT OF FUNNEL CLOUD MOVING NORTHEAST. |
| 23:50 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 10 Nw Washington | Hempstead, AR | PENNY SIZE HAIL FELL IN BINGEN. |
| 00:55 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | Bismarck | Hot Spring, AR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of November 27, 2005
64 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 27 | 1:48 PM CST | F0 | Marion, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 1:48 PM CST | F0 | Marion, KS | 13.0 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 1:50 PM CST | F0 | Marion, KS | 2.0 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| November 27 | 2:04 PM CST | F0 | Marion, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 2:05 PM CST | F0 | Morris, KS | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 2:12 PM CST | F1 | Morris, KS | 20.0 | 400 | $250,000 | ||
| November 27 | 2:32 PM CST | F0 | Dickinson, KS | 1.5 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 2:32 PM CST | F0 | Morris, KS | 6.0 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 2:35 PM CST | F0 | Lyon, KS | 1.0 | 100 | $20,000 | ||
| November 27 | 2:48 PM CST | F0 | Montgomery, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 2:58 PM CST | F0 | Morris, KS | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 3:09 PM CST | F1 | Geary, KS | 2.0 | 300 | $900,000 | ||
| November 27 | 3:15 PM CST | F0 | Geary, KS | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 3:21 PM CST | F0 | Geary, KS | 2.0 | 150 | $40,000 | ||
| November 27 | 3:28 PM CST | F0 | Riley, KS | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 3:32 PM CST | F0 | Riley, KS | 0.3 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| November 27 | 3:40 PM CST | F1 | Yell, AR | 4.5 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 3:49 PM CST | F0 | Riley, KS | 0.3 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 3:57 PM CST | F0 | Yell, AR | 2.7 | 40 | |||
| November 27 | 4:06 PM CST | F1 | Neosho, KS | 6.0 | 80 | $120,000 | ||
| November 27 | 4:22 PM CST | F0 | Allen, KS | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 4:42 PM CST | F1 | Montgomery, AR | 3.2 | 40 | |||
| November 27 | 4:49 PM CST | F1 | Montgomery, AR | 4.5 | 40 | |||
| November 27 | 4:56 PM CST | F1 | Garland, AR | 3.5 | 40 | |||
| November 27 | 5:10 PM CST | F1 | Garland, AR | 1.2 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 5:19 PM CST | F0 | Jasper, MO | 0.0 | 75 | |||
| November 27 | 5:20 PM CST | F2 | Hot Spring, AR | 4.2 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 5:23 PM CST | F1 | Van Buren, AR | 2.8 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 5:26 PM CST | F2 | Garland, AR | 13.8 | 100 | 1 | ||
| November 27 | 5:27 PM CST | F1 | Searcy, AR | 2.7 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 5:30 PM CST | F1 | Garland, AR | 2.1 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 5:32 PM CST | F1 | Saline, AR | 6.1 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 5:37 PM CST | F2 | Conway, AR | 3.9 | 250 | |||
| November 27 | 5:41 PM CST | F3 | Perry, AR | 19.0 | 800 | $4.0 million | ||
| November 27 | 5:42 PM CST | F2 | Pope, AR | 2.3 | 250 | |||
| November 27 | 5:44 PM CST | F1 | Clay, MO | 11.0 | 75 | $1.2 million | ||
| November 27 | 5:45 PM CST | F2 | Conway, AR | 11.8 | 250 | |||
| November 27 | 5:59 PM CST | F1 | Ray, MO | 2.0 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| November 27 | 6:00 PM CST | F3 | Conway, AR | 2.0 | 150 | |||
| November 27 | 6:09 PM CST | F3 | Conway, AR | 15.0 | 700 | 1 | 8 | |
| November 27 | 6:15 PM CST | F1 | Baxter, AR | 3.7 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 6:25 PM CST | F1 | Perry, AR | 0.8 | 25 | |||
| November 27 | 6:26 PM CST | F1 | Pulaski, AR | 2.2 | 25 | |||
| November 27 | 6:27 PM CST | F2 | Conway, AR | 6.1 | 600 | |||
| November 27 | 6:34 PM CST | F2 | Faulkner, AR | 2.6 | 400 | |||
| November 27 | 6:37 PM CST | F2 | Van Buren, AR | 13.1 | 400 | |||
| November 27 | 6:40 PM CST | F1 | Fulton, AR | 1.3 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 6:42 PM CST | F1 | Ozark, MO | 1.0 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 6:46 PM CST | F1 | Howell, MO | 3.0 | 100 | 2 | $70,000 | |
| November 27 | 6:55 PM CST | F1 | Van Buren, AR | 3.7 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 6:56 PM CST | F1 | Howell, MO | 5.0 | 100 | 2 | $70,000 | |
| November 27 | 6:59 PM CST | F1 | Faulkner, AR | 7.7 | 75 | |||
| November 27 | 7:02 PM CST | F1 | Cleburne, AR | 2.7 | 50 | |||
| November 27 | 7:11 PM CST | F0 | Faulkner, AR | 4.0 | 40 | |||
| November 27 | 7:19 PM CST | F2 | Van Buren, AR | 0.8 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 7:20 PM CST | F2 | Cleburne, AR | 9.2 | 100 | 1 | ||
| November 27 | 7:47 PM CST | F0 | Cleburne, AR | 1.2 | 25 | |||
| November 27 | 7:55 PM CST | F1 | Izard, AR | 5.8 | 150 | |||
| November 27 | 8:01 PM CST | F1 | Sharp, AR | 0.4 | 100 | |||
| November 27 | 8:02 PM CST | F1 | Fulton, AR | 5.8 | 100 |
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.