Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2011

EF0 tornado, Fulton to Hope Muni Arpt, Arkansas, April 25, 2011

Name: EF0 tornado, Fulton to Hope Muni Arpt, Arkansas, April 25, 2011
Start: 2011-04-25T14:05:00.000Z
End: 2011-04-25T14:13:00.000Z
Location: Fulton to Hope Muni Arpt, Arkansas

From Fulton to Hope Muni Arpt, this EF0 tornado ran 7.6 miles across Hempstead County on April 25, 2011, touching down at 9:05 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

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

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: EF0
Date: April 25, 2011
Touchdown: 9:05 AM CDT (14:05 UTC)
Lifted: 9:13 AM CDT (14:13 UTC)
On the ground: 8 minutes
Path length: 7.6 miles (12.2 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Hempstead County
Touchdown point: 33.630, -93.799
Lift-off point: 33.696, -93.693
Record number: 1104250805-01

The damage survey

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SHV, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

Pine Trees snapped approx 2 dozen.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A stationary frontal boundary remained anchored across north Texas into eastern Oklahoma during the morning hours and throughout the day of April 25th. The areas to the south and east of the frontal boundary remained moderately unstable with very strong shear in the lower levels of the atmosphere as well as the mid levels of the atmosphere. The combination of strong shear, good instability along with an upper level disturbance moving across the southern plains resulted in an outbreak of strong to severe thunderstorms. Some of these storms produced large hail, damaging thunderstorm wind gusts and isolated tornadoes.

The NWS conducted a storm survey in southwest Hempstead County and concluded that the damage was the result of an EF0 tornado. The tornado first touched down just northeast of Fulton, Arkansas along Hwy. 195 where several pine trees were snapped in a pine thicket. The tornado was at its widest point at this time, approximately 100 yards wide near Hwy. 195. The storm then continued on an east northeast trajectory snapping trees as it crossed CR 10. The storm then lifted just to the west of CR 15. Estimated wind speeds were 75-80 mph.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 25, 4:52 AM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 4:52 AM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
452 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

.DISCUSSION...
QUICK UPDATE TO ACCOUNT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #199 VALID
UNTIL 16Z. CONECTION ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTH CENTRAL/
NORTHEAST TEXAS SHOWS LITTLE SIGNS OF WEAKENING AS THEY MOVE EAST
NEAR 50 MPH THIS MORNING. DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE
MAIN THREAT WITH THIS ACTIVITY EARLY THIS MORNING. SOME
UNCERTAINITY EXITS AS TO JUST HOW FAR EAST THIS ACTIVITY WILL MAKE
IT BEFORE WEAKENING. MORE SUSTANTIAL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT INCLUDING
TORNADOES WILL LIKELY BE LATER TODAY.

UPDATED ZONES AND WCN HAS ALREADY BEEN SENT. NO OTHER CHANGES
ATTM.

13

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 319 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011/

DISCUSSION...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #198 CURRENTLY IN EFFECT FOR OUR WEST
AND NORTHWESTERN ZONES UNTIL 5 AM MAY HAVE TO BE EXTENDED LOCALLY
IF THE CURRENT NORTH TEXAS CONVECTION CAN HOLD TOGETHER AS IT
MOVES EAST. ASSUMING THAT IT DOES HOLD TOGETHER...DISTANT SPEED
TOOL HAS IT MOVING INTO OUR NE TX COUNTIES CLOSE TO 10Z SO THIS
WILL NEED TO BE A LAST MINUTE CALL. OTHERWISE...CONVECTION WHICH
MOVED THROUGH SW AR EARLIER THIS MORNING HAS MOVED TO OUR NORTH
AND EAST BUT A STRONG REMNANT OUTFLOW BOUNDARY REMAINS ACROSS OUR
NORTHERN ZONES FROM NEAR CLARKSVILLE TEXAS ONTO NEAR CAMDEN
ARKANSAS. THIS WILL BE A FAVORABLE BOUNDARY FOR ADDITIONAL
CONVECTION TO FIRE ON A LITTLE LATER THIS MORNING. STRONG PRESSURE
GRADIENT IN PLACE ONCE AGAIN TODAY AND FOR THIS REASON...WILL NEED
TO HOIST A LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR OUR ENTIRE REGION RUNNING IT
INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

MESOSCALE ANALYSIS SHOWING OUR PERSISTENT STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY
EXTENDING FROM NORTH OF ABI...DFW AND PRX TEXAS...TO SOUTH OF FSM
ONTO NEAR LIT AS OF 07Z. DO NOT FEEL LIKE THIS BOUNDARY WILL MAKE
ANY FURTHER SOUTHWARD PROGRESS TODAY BUT AS THE FIRST IN A SERIES
OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVES OUT OF THE OK/TX PNHDL AND INTO
THE MIDDLE RED RIVER VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON...CONVECTION SHOULD
ERUPT ALONG AND AHEAD OF A STRONG DRYLINE WHICH SHOULD MOVE OUT OF
WEST TEXAS TODAY...TAKING UP A POSITION ALONG OR JUST EAST OF THE
I-35 CORRIDOR BY 00Z. FRONT SHOULD THEN FIND ITS FEET AND MOVE TO
NEAR THE I-30 CORRIDOR OF NE TX INTO SW AR BY 12Z TUE. MODELS HAVE
BEEN PERSISTENT AT THE DEVELOPMENT OF A STRONG 850MB THETAE RIDGE
ACROSS NE TX...EXTREME NW LA INTO SE OK AND SW AR BY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AND THIS WILL BE THE FAVORED
AREA FOR STRONG TO SEVERE TRAINING CONVECTION. SPC DAY ONE OUTLOOK
HAS MUCH OF OUR NW AND NORTHERN ZONES IN A MODERATE RISK FOR
SEVERE CONVECTION TODAY/TONIGHT WITH OUR REMAINING COUNTIES/
PARISHES IN A SLIGHT RISK. THIS IS WARRANTED GIVEN THE STRONG
DEEP LAYER SHEAR IN PLACE...LARGE 700-500MB LAPSE RATES AND
EXPECTED MODERATE TO EXTREME INSTABILITY EXPECTED DOWNSTREAM OF
THE DRYLINE. STRONG LOW LEVEL SRH VALUES IN THE 0-1KM AND 0-3KM
LAYERS SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR ROTATING STORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE MODERATE RISK AREA.

A SECOND SHORTWAVE WILL DIVE INTO THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH JUST TO
OUR WEST ON TUESDAY WITH THE POTENTIAL ONCE AGAIN FOR STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS OUR ENTIRE REGION. DEPENDING UPON JUST
HOW MUCH STORM TRAINING WE SEE TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT ACROSS SE
OK/SW AR...ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL APPEARS LIKELY TUESDAY INTO
TUESDAY NIGHT ACROSS OUR NORTHERN ZONES AND A FLASH FLOOD WATCH
MAY BE NEEDED FOR AT LEAST OUR SW AR COUNTIES ON TUESDAY. WILL
ALLOW THE DAY SHIFT TO MAKE THIS CALL WITH STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY
ON JUST WHERE THIS TRAINING WILL TAKE PLACE. SEVERE CONVECTIVE
PARAMETERS ARE ONCE AGAIN IN PLACE FOR TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT
WITH A THREAT FOR HAIL...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND TORNADOES.

THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH FINALLY GETS SHUNTED EAST OF THE REGION
DURING THE DAY WEDNESDAY...WITH A STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHING ALL
CONVECTION EAST OF THE REGION WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. DRIER/COOLER
AIRMASS FUNNELS INTO THE REGION THROUGH THE END OF THE WORK WEEK
BUT THIS WILL BE TEMPORARY AS MEDIUM RANGE PROGS ARE CONSISTENT
WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT COMMENCING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
PLAINS/LOWER MISS VALLEY LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. THERE ARE
LARGE DISCREPANCIES CONCERNING TIMING AND DEPTH OF OUR NEXT
WEATHER MAKER NEXT WEEKEND. THE ECMWF IS MUCH SLOWER AND DEEPER
WITH THE TROUGH...WITH MUCH MORE OF A SEVERE WEATHER THREAT SUNDAY
INTO MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK COMPARED TO THE SHALLOWER AND FASTER GFS
SOLUTION. TRIED TO SHOW A BLEND THIS FAR OUT IN THE FORECAST WITH
CHANCE POPS SUNDAY INTO MONDAY OF NEXT WEEK.

PRELIMS TO FOLLOW...13.

AVIATION...
CONCERNING THE ARKLATEX...FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING NEWD FROM SFC
LOW MOVG EAST ALONG RED RIVER VALLEY...BRINGING INCREASING CHANCES
OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS TO REGION BY LATER TODAY...MAINLY AFTER 18Z.
CURRENTLY THESE STORMS ARE DEVELOPING WEST OF DFW...AND MAY HOLD
TOGETHER AS THEY MOVE TOWARDS NE TX. SSW WINDS ONCE AGAIN 15 TO
20KTS AFTER 16Z FOR MOST OF AREA...INCREASING AT MLU AND ELD
TERMINALS BY AROUND 21Z. MORNING LOW MVFR CLOUDS ONCE AGAIN
INCREASING BEFORE DAYBREAK TODAY. CONVECTION MAY DIMINISH AFTER 06Z
TUE...BEFORE MAIN TROUGH BRINGS MORE HEAVY RAIN AND STG TSTMS BACK
INTO REGION TUE NIGHT...AFTER END OF CURRENT TAF CYCLE.

/VII/

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SHV  87  71  84  68  78 /  60  70  60  60  40
MLU  89  71  85  69  81 /  40  70  60  60  50
DEQ  81  62  75  58  69 /  80  80  70  70  60
TXK  84  66  79  65  73 /  70  80  70  70  50
ELD  86  67  81  66  75 /  60  80  70  70  50
TYR  87  67  83  65  75 /  70  70  60  60  40
GGG  87  69  82  66  77 /  70  70  60  60  40
LFK  88  72  87  69  81 /  40  50  50  50  30

&&

.SHV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AR...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THIS
     EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073.

LA...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THIS
     EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022.

OK...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THIS
     EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: OKZ077.

TX...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM 10 AM THIS MORNING TO 9 PM CDT THIS
     EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES:
     TXZ096-097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167.

&&

13/99

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 25, 4:27 AM CDT, 4 hours 38 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
427 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-OKZ077-TXZ096-097-108>112-
124>126-136>138-251900-
SEVIER-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-HEMPSTEAD-NEVADA-MILLER-LAFAYETTE-
COLUMBIA-UNION AR-CADDO-BOSSIER-WEBSTER-CLAIBORNE-LINCOLN-
UNION LA-MCCURTAIN-RED RIVER-BOWIE-FRANKLIN-TITUS-CAMP-MORRIS-
CASS-WOOD-UPSHUR-MARION-SMITH-GREGG-HARRISON-
427 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...
NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHEAST TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AS EARLY AS THIS
MORNING ALONG AND NORTH OF THE INTERSTATE 20 CORRIDOR OF NORTHEAST
TEXAS AND NORTHWEST LOUISIANA. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL
BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH THE CONVECTION THIS MORNING AS IT MOVES
OUT OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND SOUTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. BY THIS
AFTERNOON...SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS
NORTHEAST TEXAS...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS AS WELL
AS NORTHWEST LOUISIANA WITH A HEIGHTENED THREAT FOR TORNADOES
NEAR AND NORTHWEST OF THE INTERSTATE 30 CORRIDOR OF NORTHEAST
TEXAS...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AS WELL AS SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS. THIS
TREAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AND SPREAD
EASTWARD...ENCOMPASSING MORE OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS AS WELL AS NORTH
CENTRAL LOUISIANA. TRAINING OF STORMS COULD DEVELOP ACROSS
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS THIS EVENING THROUGH THE
OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH THE RISK OF FLASH FLOODING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL
WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE REGION. THE
POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...HAIL AND TORNADOES WILL
CONTINUE AS WELL WITH A PROLONGED HEAVY RAIN THREAT...MAINLY
ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA INTO SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL
ARKANSAS THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PUSH
THROUGH THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY...BRINGING AN END TO THE
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TODAY...PERHAPS INTO
TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT AS THERE WILL BE A PROLONGED THREAT OF
WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION.

LAZ010>014-017>022-TXZ149>153-165>167-251900-
DE SOTO-RED RIVER-BIENVILLE-JACKSON-OUACHITA-SABINE LA-
NATCHITOCHES-WINN-GRANT-CALDWELL-LA SALLE-CHEROKEE-RUSK-PANOLA-
NACOGDOCHES-SHELBY-ANGELINA-SAN AUGUSTINE-SABINE TX-
427 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
LOUISIANA...NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...EAST TEXAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...
MUCH OF THE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
IS EXPECTED TO BE JUST NORTH OF THE REGION TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MORE ISOLATED IN NATURE...AND WILL
DEPEND UPON LEFT OVER BOUNDARIES PRODUCED BY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
FURTHER NORTH. INSTABILITY WILL BE STRONG TODAY INTO THIS EVENING...
THUS ANY STORMS THAT DEVELOP COULD QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE
COMPLETELY RULED OUT THROUGH TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...
THE THREAT FOR MORE WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS APPEARS TO BE
GREATER ACROSS THE REGION TUESDAY INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. WHILE THE
GREATER THREAT WILL AGAIN BE JUST NORTH OF THE REGION...ANY
THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. THE
ACTIVITY SHOULD BE WINDING DOWN AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH SHOULD
BE MOVING THROUGH THE REGION ON WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS
EVENING WITH ACTIVATION MORE LIKELY NEEDED FOR TUESDAY THROUGH
TUESDAY NIGHT.

13

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 25, 6:22 AM CDT, 2 hours 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
622 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0600 AM     TSTM WND DMG     IDABEL                  33.90N 94.82W
04/25/2011                   MCCURTAIN          OK   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREE DOWN IN IDABEL.

&&

MBERRY

Special weather statement, Apr 25, 6:51 AM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 25, 7:04 AM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before

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Local storm report, Apr 25, 7:07 AM CDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 25, 7:39 AM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
739 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0720 AM     TSTM WND DMG     MINERAL SPRINGS         33.88N 93.92W
04/25/2011                   HOWARD             AR   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREE DOWNED ALONG HWY. 27 NEAR THE SALINE RIVER.

&&

MBERRY

Special weather statement, Apr 25, 8:30 AM CDT, 35 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
830 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

ARZ051-059>061-070-251430-
HEMPSTEAD-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-MILLER-NEVADA-
830 AM CDT MON APR 25 2011

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY...EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM CDT...FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...
     LITTLE RIVER...NEVADA...HEMPSTEAD...HOWARD AND MILLER...

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
     BLEVINS...EMMET...FULTON...HOPE...MANDEVILLE...OGDEN...
     PERRYTOWN...PRESCOTT...SARATOGA AND WASHINGTON...

AT 827 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE
DETECTING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR MANDEVILLE...OR 8 MILES
NORTHEAST OF TEXARKANA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

SMALL HAIL...AND WINDS AROUND 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

05

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

2.1 hours before the tornado, 132 km from the path. April 25, 2011.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1213 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -34 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1595 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 759 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 231 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 491 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.2
Supercell composite: 11.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

9.9 hours after it, 132 km from the path. April 26, 2011.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 782 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -155 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1515 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 262 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 553 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 15.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Texarkana Regional/Webb (TXK), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 135 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:06 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2011 tornado in Arkansas Every tornado in Arkansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Arkansas now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 25, 2011

45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 25	1:55 PM CDT	EF0	Hood, TX	2.5	150
April 25	2:00 PM CDT	EF0	Hood, TX	0.4	25
April 25	2:02 PM CDT	EF0	McCurtain, OK	9.2	75
April 25	2:55 PM CDT	EF1	Polk, AR	5.8	50			$250,000
April 25	3:00 PM CDT	EF0	Somervell, TX	0.8	50
April 25	3:10 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson, TX	2.6	400
April 25	3:15 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson, TX	0.9	150
April 25	3:32 PM CDT	EF1	Cherokee, TX	8.6	75			$500
April 25	4:23 PM CDT	EF0	Hill, TX	0.7	30
April 25	4:23 PM CDT	EF1	Christian, KY	1.5	275			$100,000
April 25	4:24 PM CDT	EF1	Garland, AR	9.3	300			$600,000
April 25	4:35 PM CDT	EF1	Pike, AR	11.6	800			$290,000
April 25	4:56 PM CDT	EF2	Garland, AR	5.9	200		9	$3.0 million
April 25	5:00 PM CDT	EF1	Pike, AR	4.3	300			$200,000
April 25	5:02 PM CDT	EF2	Garland, AR	14.4	300		10	$5.0 million
April 25	5:18 PM CDT	EF0	McCurtain, OK	2.5	50			$5,000
April 25	5:20 PM CDT	EF0	Ellis, TX	0.5	50			$25,000
April 25	5:37 PM CDT	EF0	Sevier, AR	7.4	70
April 25	5:47 PM CDT	EF1	Wayne, MO	11.8	200			$25,000
April 25	5:58 PM CDT	EF1	Wayne, MO	5.9	500			$70,000
April 25	6:07 PM CDT	EF3	Garland, AR	16.8	300	1	20	$23 million
April 25	6:21 PM CDT	EF1	Perry, AR	6.0	300			$700,000
April 25	6:29 PM CDT	EF1	Pike, AR	4.2	250			$100,000
April 25	6:30 PM CDT	EF1	Bollinger, MO	2.8	70			$200,000
April 25	6:48 PM CDT	EF1	Pulaski, AR	1.6	400			$250,000
April 25	6:48 PM CDT	EF2	Pulaski, AR	51.3	2,900	4	16	$53 million
April 25	6:53 PM CDT	EF0	Limestone, TX	1.3	100
April 25	6:59 PM CDT	EF0	Freestone, TX	0.8	100
April 25	7:06 PM CDT	EF1	Faulkner, AR	1.1	50			$100,000
April 25	7:25 PM CDT	EF0	Freestone, TX	3.5	500
April 25	7:35 PM CDT	EF0	Leon, TX	0.9	100
April 25	7:46 PM CDT	EF2	Pulaski, AR	5.2	350		4	$125 million
April 25	7:53 PM CDT	EF1	Lonoke, AR	21.9	800			$390,000
April 25	8:15 PM CDT	EF1	Prairie, AR	6.2	100			$25,000
April 25	8:24 PM CDT	EF1	White, AR	8.9	100			$1.0 million
April 25	9:15 PM CDT	EF1	Houston, TX	0.2	30			$50,000
April 25	9:37 PM CDT	EF1	Angelina, TX	7.7	250			$400,000
April 25	9:45 PM CDT	EF1	Trinity, TX	0.6	100			$30,000
April 25	10:13 PM CDT	EF0	Angelina, TX	0.7	25			$2,000
April 25	11:45 PM CDT	EF1	Weakley, TN to KY	15.4	225			$150,000
April 25	11:47 PM CDT	EF0	Henderson, TN	17.0	200			$20,000
April 25	12:30 AM CDT	EF0	Polk, TX	0.1	20			$1,000
April 25	12:30 AM CDT	EF0	Calloway, KY	0.8	175			$80,000
April 25	12:37 AM CDT	EF1	Lyon, KY	3.2	50			$150,000
April 25	12:40 AM CDT	EF1	Lyon, KY	15.4	100			$200,000

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.