EF2 tornado, Belfast to Sweet Home, Arkansas, April 30, 2010

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

April 30, 2010

Touchdown

7:59 PM CDT (00:59 UTC)

Lifted

8:31 PM CDT (01:31 UTC)

On the ground

32 minutes

Path length

18.0 miles (28.9 km)

Path width

550 yards (503 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

8

Property damage

$4.3 million

Counties

Grant, Saline and Pulaski counties

Touchdown point

34.467, -92.423

Lift-off point

34.670, -92.226

Record number

1004301859-01

Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico surged into Arkansas at the end of April, so conditions in the state became warm and humid. On the 30th, a strong area of low pressure aloft approached from the west, resulting in the development of thunderstorms. Wind shear, a change in wind direction and speed with height, was present. This created a favorable environment for the formation of tornadoes.

An EF1 tornado caused roof damage to a house and a church. Half of a barn roof was blown off and trees were blown down. This was the first of five tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm.

This was the second of five tornadoes spawned by the same supercell thunderstorm. A couple of roofs and some outbuildings were damaged. Trees were blown down. The tornado exited Saline County south of Sardis and entered Grant County northwest of Ico.

This tornado exited Saline County south of Sardis and moved through a tiny portion of Grant County before re-entering Saline County south of Sardis. In Grant County, a few trees were blown down.

This tornado exited Grant County northwest of Ico and re-entered Saline County south of Sardis. The tornado traveled through the East End community, causing EF2 damage. A Red Cross survey of the damage indicated: 4 houses and 11 mobile homes destroyed, 11 houses and 3 mobile homes with major damage, 26 houses and 4 mobile homes with minor damage, and 16 houses and 13 mobile homes affected. A fire station in East End was destroyed and part of the roof was torn off a church. Two businesses also suffered damage. In addition, numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Eight people were injured. The tornado exited Saline County northeast of East End and entered Pulaski County south-southeast of Landmark.

This tornado exited Saline County northeast of East End and entered Pulaski County south-southeast of Landmark. A Red Cross survey of the tornado damage in Pulaski County indicated: 3 houses and 6 mobile homes destroyed, 2 houses and 10 mobile homes with major damage, 10 houses and 16 mobile homes with minor damage, and 23 houses and 22 mobile homes affected. In addition, numerous trees and power lines were blown down.

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

18 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:41 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:25 UTC and running to 02:10 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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:50 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.

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:57 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 2010 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

24 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.