EF1 tornado, Meaford to Blocher, Arkansas, September 13, 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 mphthis tornado

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

3. EF2111 to 135 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. 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

EF1

Date

September 13, 2008

Touchdown

3:25 PM CDT (20:25 UTC)

Lifted

3:29 PM CDT (20:29 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

25 yards (23 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$6,000

Counties

Saline and Garland counties

Touchdown point

34.615, -92.884

Lift-off point

34.644, -92.883

Record number

0809131425-01

Tropical Storm Ike moved into Arkansas on the evening of the 13th. By mid evening of the 13th, Ike was located in western Arkansas. Ike weakened to a tropical depression during the wee hours of the 14th, when it was located about 105 miles west-northwest of Little Rock. Ike exited northern Arkansas before sunrise on the 14th. In the Little Rock County Warning Area, wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph were common, and some gusts in the northern part of the state exceeded 50 mph. The strongest gusts measured were 67 mph at the Izard County Fairgrounds in Melbourne and 61 mph at the Newport airport. The strongest sustained wind measured was 46 mph at the Newport airport. Power was knocked out to more than 200,000 electric customers. Wind damage was estimated at just over $30 million. There was one injury due to the winds. The greatest storm total rainfall was 4.60 inches at Big Fork. The lowest barometric pressure was 29.10 inches at Mountain Home. There were seven weak tornadoes, with damage estimated at just over $450,000.

This tornado was spawned by Tropical Storm Ike. Trees were blown down in the forest. The tornado crossed U.S. Highway 70 east of the rest area.

This tornado moved out of Hot Spring County, east-northeast of Glen Rose, and entered Saline County, northwest of Traskwood. Many trees were blown down, one of which fell on a house. The tornado moved through the Crossroads community, which had been hit by a tornado on April 3, 2008.

This tornado was spawned by Tropical Storm Ike. A few trees were blown down. The tornado exited Garland County, north of Whittington, and moved into Saline County, south-southeast of Blocher.

This tornado moved out of Garland County, north of Whittington, and entered Saline County, south-southeast of Blocher. A few small trees were blown down.

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

26 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:59 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:16 UTC and running to 02:57 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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.

Hot Springs (HOT), 26 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), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:26 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

30 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.