Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2011
EF1 tornado, Scott to Sisemore, Arkansas, February 24, 2011
From Scott to Sisemore, this EF1 tornado ran 1.6 miles across Lonoke County on February 24, 2011, touching down at 5:03 PM CST and reaching 235 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $400,000 of property damage.
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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- February 24, 2011
- Touchdown
- 5:03 PM CST (23:03 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:05 PM CST (23:05 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 1.6 miles (2.5 km)
- Path width
- 235 yards (215 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $400,000
- County
- Lonoke County
- Touchdown point
- 34.771, -91.904
- Lift-off point
- 34.783, -91.881
- Record number
- 1102241703-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Low pressure aloft, approaching from the west, caused a line of thunderstorms to develop during the afternoon. The line moved very quickly, exiting the area during the early evening. The fast movement of the line, occasional bowing sections within the line, and winds aloft were favorable for severe thunderstorms producing wind damage. Isolated tornadoes developed near the line.
A tornado developed near the northwest side of Bearskin Lake. A large metal building had its doors blown in and one side of the structure was blown out. Shingles were blown off several houses. One shed was destroyed and the roof was blown off another. A number of trees were blown down.
A tornado began on the south side of Lonoke and tracked through the southeastern part of the city, then ended near U.S. Highway 70 just east of the city. Many houses suffered roof damage, windows were blown out of a house, and the porch was blown off a church. Numerous trees were blown down. One of the trees crushed a wood-frame house that was vacant. Power lines were blown down. Much of the roof of the National Guard Armory was blown off.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
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 19:32 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.
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 Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Feb 24, 2:51 PM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 2:51 PM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 251 PM CST THU FEB 24 2011 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS A POSSIBILITY THROUGH THIS EVENING AS STRONG SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. NAM/GFS/ECMWF ALL IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH THE EVOLUTION/TIMING OF THIS SYSTEM AND A BLEND OF FORECAST SOLUTIONS WILL BE USED THIS AFTERNOON. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES WARM FRONT OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. BOUNDARY STILL EXPECTED TO SLOWLY PROGRESS TO THE NORTH THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. IN ADDITION TO THE FRONT... WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS STRONG SHORT WAVE TROUGH OVER THE SOUTH CENTRAL PLAINS. SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS ALREADY UNDERWAY OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA WITH CIRCULATION EXPECTED TO DEEPEN AS AFOREMENTIONED UPPER TROUGH KICKS OUT. SURFACE LOW EXPECTED TO RACE OFF TO THE NORTHEAST AND CROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BY MID EVENING. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE UNTIL ASSOCIATED FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVES THROUGH. SPECIAL 18Z RAOB REVEALED 50 KTS OF WIND JUST OFF THE SURFACE AND DECENT MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES OF 8C/KM AND THIS WAS EVEN BEFORE THE FRONT HAD MADE IT COMPLETELY THROUGH THE UPPER AIR SITE. AS UPPER IMPULSE MOVES EAST...SEVERE WEATHER WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE SEVERAL AREAS REMAIN A CONCERN FOR SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH THIS EVENING. FIRST OFF...TORNADO THREATS APPEAR TO BE GREATEST ALONG THE ADVANCING WARM FRONT WHERE BEST HELICITY WILL BE LOCATED ALONG WITH THE DEEPENING SURFACE LOW AND OVER THE SOUTHEAST WHERE SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY HAS BEEN STEADILY INCREASING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS. EVEN WHERE THE TORNADO THREAT IS NOT AS HIGH... EXPECTING A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS TO SWEEP THROUGH DURING THE EVENING HOURS AS THE AFOREMENTIONED FRONT MOVES EAST. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN REMAINS A CONCERN AS PWATS INCREASE TO IN EXCESS OF 1.5 INCHES. WIDESPREAD RAIN OF ONE TO TWO INCHES WAS RECEIVED ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTH LAST NIGHT AND THIS AREA WILL BE WATCHED CLOSELY FOR FLOODING CONCERNS. PRECIPITATION ENDS FAIRLY QUICKLY BEHIND THE BOUNDARY BUT WILL HOLD ON TO SCATTERED PRECIPITATION FOR SEVERAL HOURS WITH ALL POPS GONE BY FRIDAY MORNING. BREEZY...COOLER BUY DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED FOR FRIDAY AS ZONAL FLOW PREDOMINATES. WEAK RIDGING AND SOUTHERLY WINDS RETURN FOR SATURDAY WITH TEMPERATURES WARMING TO ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS ONCE AGAIN AS NEXT SYSTEM DIGS INTO THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES. SOUTHWEST SYSTEM LIFTS OUT SUNDAY WITH BEST DYNAMICS PASSING TO THE NORTH OF THE STATE. STILL EXPECTING A FRONTAL BOUNDARY TO PASS ACROSS THE STATE SUNDAY NIGHT BUT MODELS NOT AS IMPRESSIVE WITH THIS SYSTEM VERSUS THE PREVIOUS FEW RUNS. MAIN DIFFERENCE FROM PREVIOUS RUNS IS TIMING AS MODELS BRING THE BOUNDARY THROUGH AT NIGHT AND MOVE IT TO THE EAST OF THE AREA BY MONDAY MORNING. WILL READJUST POPS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT. AS FAR AS TEMPS ARE CONCERNED...WILL LEAN TOWARDS THE COOLER MAV GUIDANCE. && .LONG TERM...MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY... BY MONDAY MORNING...THE UPPER LOW WILL BE IN ILLINOIS AND HEADED NORTHEAST. THIS WILL RESULT IN WESTERLY FLOW OVER ARKANSAS AND ZONAL FLOW OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN U.S. ZONAL FLOW WILL BE OVER MUCH OF THE COUNTRY MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. A RIDGE DEVELOPS SOME BUCKLING IN THE WEST WEDNESDAY WITH A TROUGH OVER THE NORTHEAST. AT THE END OF THE PERIOD SOME RIDGING BEGINS IN THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. THE COLD FRONT WILL BE EXITING EAST ARKANSAS MONDAY MORNING. THE SURFACE LOW WILL BE MOVING THROUGH MISSOURI...AND COULD PROVIDE SOME WRAP AROUND SHOWERS TO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. DECREASED THESE RAIN CHANCES BUT LEFT THEM ACROSS THE NORTH AND EAST. HIGH PRESSURE SETTLES IN OVER THE AREA TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WITH DRY WEATHER EXPECTED. NEAR TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... BATESVILLE AR 38 47 34 62 / 90 0 0 10 CAMDEN AR 44 56 37 69 / 80 0 0 10 HARRISON AR 33 47 33 62 / 60 0 0 10 HOT SPRINGS AR 40 53 36 67 / 70 0 0 10 LITTLE ROCK AR 41 51 35 66 / 80 0 0 10 MONTICELLO AR 46 55 37 69 / 90 0 0 10 MOUNT IDA AR 39 54 36 67 / 60 0 0 10 MOUNTAIN HOME AR 34 47 33 62 / 70 0 0 10 NEWPORT AR 39 47 34 63 / 90 0 0 10 PINE BLUFF AR 44 53 36 68 / 90 0 0 10 RUSSELLVILLE AR 37 50 34 65 / 60 0 0 10 SEARCY AR 39 48 34 64 / 90 0 0 10 STUTTGART AR 42 50 35 66 / 90 0 0 10 && .LZK WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && SHORT TERM...56 / LONG TERM...51
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 24, 3:45 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 345 PM CST THU FEB 24 2011 ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-251045- ARKANSAS-BAXTER-BOONE-BRADLEY-CALHOUN-CLARK-CLEBURNE-CLEVELAND- CONWAY-DALLAS-DESHA-DREW-FAULKNER-FULTON-GARLAND-GRANT-HOT SPRING- INDEPENDENCE-IZARD-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-LINCOLN-LOGAN-LONOKE- MARION-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-NEWTON-OUACHITA-PERRY-PIKE-POLK-POPE- PRAIRIE-PULASKI-SALINE-SCOTT-SEARCY-SHARP-STONE-VAN BUREN-WHITE- WOODRUFF-YELL- 345 PM CST THU FEB 24 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT TORNADO WATCHES ARE IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE STATE THROUGH THIS EVENING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY ACROSS MUCH OF ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A STRONG STORM SYSTEM CONTINUES TO MOVE THROUGH ARKANSAS AT THIS TIME. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AS A COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS THE STATE. STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS HAVE PULLED COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF GULF MOISTURE INTO THE ADVANCING SYSTEM WITH WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION OCCURRING AT THIS TIME. STRONG WINDS EXTEND JUST ABOVE THE SURFACE THROUGH THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THERE IS ENOUGH CHANGE IN BOTH WIND SPEED...AND WIND DIRECTION WITH HEIGHT TO SUPPORT TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS. A TORNADO WATCH IN IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL ARKANSAS UNTIL 6 PM WITH A SEPARATE TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN ARKANSAS UNTIL 10 PM. IN ADDITION TO THE SEVERE STORMS...HEAVY RAINS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. AREAS IN NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ARKANSAS RECEIVED UPWARDS OF TWO INCHES OF RAIN OVERNIGHT. MORE HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY AS STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA...WITH AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO THREE INCHES POSSIBLE ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT. WITH REGARD TO TIMING...STRONG STORMS SHOULD BE TO CENTRAL ARKANSAS THROUGH 6 PM...MAKING IT INTO THE EAST BETWEEN 6 PM AND 10 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING WILL BE CALM AS HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATES THE WEATHER IN ARKANSAS. LATE SUNDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE STATE. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS SYSTEM BUT THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER REMAINS QUESTIONABLE AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. && VISIT NWS LITTLE ROCK ON THE WEB. GO TO HTTP://WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON CENTRAL ARKANSAS. 56
In the hours before
Local storm report, Feb 24, 4:23 PM CST, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR
423 PM CST THU FEB 24 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0350 PM TSTM WND DMG HOT SPRINGS 34.49N 93.05W
02/24/2011 GARLAND AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES AND POWER LINES WERE REPORTED DOWN AROUND HOT
SPRINGS AND ALSO THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
0405 PM TSTM WND DMG LONSDALE 34.54N 92.81W
02/24/2011 GARLAND AR AMATEUR RADIO
TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED NEAR THE SALINE COUNTY
LINE...OR AROUND LONSDALE.
&&
46The 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.
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 12:00Z
11.1 hours before the tornado, 177 km from the path. February 24, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -162 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 466 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 59 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 201 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.5 K/km
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 00:00Z
0.9 hours after it, 177 km from the path. February 25, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 165 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -30 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 219 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 579 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -230 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -371 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.2
- Supercell composite
- -0.9
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.1 K/km
The surface observations
Little Rock Afb (LRF), 28 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 Little Rock radar (KLZK), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:04 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 trackEvery 2011 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of February 24, 2011
12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 24 | 3:53 PM CST | EF1 | Perry, AR | 11.1 | 80 | $165,000 | ||
| February 24 | 4:56 PM CST | EF1 | Lonoke, AR | 2.3 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| February 24 | 6:15 PM CST | EF0 | Fulton, KY | 1.1 | 50 | $30,000 | ||
| February 24 | 6:32 PM CST | EF1 | Hickman, KY | 7.2 | 100 | $80,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:25 PM CST | EF1 | West Carroll Parish, LA | 6.5 | 75 | $750,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:50 PM CST | EF2 | Christian, KY | 5.7 | 300 | $600,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:50 PM CST | EF2 | Sharkey, MS | 7.3 | 400 | $1.0 million | ||
| February 24 | 8:30 PM CST | EF2 | Decatur, TN | 12.2 | 400 | $1.5 million | ||
| February 24 | 10:02 PM CST | EF2 | Davidson, TN | 7.5 | 100 | $550,000 | ||
| February 24 | 10:14 PM CST | EF2 | Wilson, TN | 8.0 | 150 | 2 | $500,000 | |
| February 24 | 10:18 PM CST | EF0 | Marion, AL | 0.6 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| February 24 | 11:10 PM CST | EF0 | Cullman, AL | 0.2 | 20 |
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.