EF2 tornado, Belfast to Carlisle Muni Arpt, Arkansas, May 2, 2008

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

6. EF5over 200 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.

Rating

EF2

Date

May 2, 2008

Touchdown

11:15 AM CDT (16:15 UTC)

Lifted

12:15 PM CDT (17:15 UTC)

On the ground

60 minutes

Path length

40.7 miles (65.5 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

1

Injuries

3

Property damage

$9.0 million

Counties

Grant, Saline, Pulaski and Lonoke counties

Touchdown point

34.412, -92.492

Lift-off point

34.710, -91.878

Record number

0805021015-01

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.

The tornado destroyed three mobile homes and caused major damage to a house. There was extensive damage to timber, both hardwoods and softwoods. Two large, steel, electrical transmission towers were knocked down. The tornado exited Grant County, northeast of Ico, and entered Saline County, south-southeast of East End.

This tornado exited Grant County, northeast of Ico, and moved into Saline County, south-southeast of East End. A total of 16 homes were impacted. Four were destroyed, nine had major damage and three had minor damage. The tornado exited Saline County, southeast of East End, and moved into Pulaski County, southwest of Woodson.

This tornado exited Saline County, southeast of East End, and moved into Pulaski County, southwest of Woodson. Altogether, 75 homes (houses and mobile homes) were damaged or destroyed. This number included 21 homes destroyed, 16 with major damage, 26 with minor damage, and the remainder with only slight damage. Most of these homes were in the Hensley and Woodson areas. One woman was killed when her mobile home was destroyed on West Hensley Rd. Two large, steel, electrical transmission towers were knocked down. The tornado exited Pulaski County, east of Wrightsville, and moved into Lonoke County, just northwest of Keo.

This tornado exited Pulaski County, east of Wrightsville, and entered Lonoke County, just northwest of Keo. Two houses and two farm shops near Keo had roof damage. In addition, two houses north of Keo were destroyed. Trees, power poles, and grain bins were blown down, and there was damage at a fish farm. Two farm shops in Pettus were damaged. Also, five large, steel, electrical transmission towers were partially to totally destroyed.

The tornado damaged approximately 25 homes, along with the Carlisle Fire Station, the old railroad depot, a storage garage, an automotive repair garage, a beauty shop, and a minnow farm. Many trees, power lines, and power poles were knocked down.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 13:51 UTC and running to 20:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 12:45 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 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.

Little Rock/Adams (LIT), 19 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:14 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

39 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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