Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2018

EF0 tornado, Driggs, Arkansas, November 30, 2018

This EF0 tornado ran 4.3 miles across Logan County on November 30, 2018, touching down at 11:50 PM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
November 30, 2018
Touchdown
11:50 PM CST (05:50 UTC)
Lifted
11:54 PM CST (05:54 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
4.3 miles (6.9 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$25,000
County
Logan County
Touchdown point
35.193, -93.801
Lift-off point
35.221, -93.733
Record number
1811302350-01

The damage survey

6 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LZK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 94 mph.

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

Isolated severe weather was noted on the 30th. A weak tornado was reported in the west and 3/4 inch hail in the north.

The tornado blew down trees, and removed some roofing material from several homes. Some barns and outbuildings were damaged.

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

The warnings

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 00:40 UTC and running to 08:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:23 UTC00:42 UTCTornado WarningLZK
00:40 UTC08:00 UTCTornado WatchLZK
05:09 UTC06:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZK
05:57 UTC06:15 UTCTornado WarningLZK
06:08 UTC07:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZK

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced 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 00:57 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 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

5.8 hours before the tornado, 188 km from the path. December 1, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2018-12-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 202 joules per kilogram, CIN -93, lifted condensation level 687 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2018-12-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 241 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
202 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
687 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

6.2 hours after it, 188 km from the path. December 1, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2018-12-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 13 joules per kilogram, CIN -181, lifted condensation level 1035 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2018-12-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 82 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1035 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
82 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
284 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 55 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:52 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
05:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGVan BurenCrawford, ARSEVERAL HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED NEAR SANDSTONE DR AND PEARL CIRCLE IN THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF VAN BUREN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGVan BurenCrawford, ARSEVERAL ARKANSAS STATE TROOPERS REPORTED DAMAGE TO HOMES NEAR VAN BUREN ON OLD UNION TOWN ROAD AND BOND SPECIAL ROAD. ONE HOUSE WAS REPORTED ON FIRE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR DATA.
05:10 UTCTORNADOVan BurenCrawford, ARSEVERAL HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED NEAR SANDSTONE DR AND PEARL CIRCLE IN THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF VAN BUREN. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. UPDATED TO RECLASSIFY AS AN EF2 TORNADO.
05:10 UTCTORNADOVan BurenCrawford, ARSEVERAL ARKANSAS STATE TROOPERS REPORTED DAMAGE TO HOMES NEAR VAN BUREN ON OLD UNION TOWN ROAD AND BOND SPECIAL ROAD. ONE HOUSE WAS REPORTED ON FIRE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR DATA. UPDATED TO RECLASSIFY AS AN EF2 TORNAD
05:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N Van BurenCrawford, ARLARGE TREES DOWN ON OLD UNIONTOWN ROAD.
05:12 UTCTORNADO1 N Van BurenCrawford, ARLARGE TREES DOWN ON OLD UNIONTOWN ROAD. UPDATED TO RECLASSIFY AS AN EF2 TORNADO.
05:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ne RudyCrawford, ARROOFS BLOWN OFF HOMES NEAR COZY COVE RD AND WALKER SCHOOL ROAD NORTHEAST OF RUDY RIGHT OFF OF I-49. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:19 UTCTSTM WND DMGAlmaCrawford, ARTREES UPROOTED/BLOWN DOWN, ROOF DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:19 UTCTORNADO3 Ne RudyCrawford, ARROOFS BLOWN OFF HOMES NEAR COZY COVE RD AND WALKER SCHOOL ROAD NORTHEAST OF RUDY RIGHT OFF OF I-49. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. UPDATED TO RECLASSIFY AS AN EF1 TORNADO.
05:45 UTCTORNADO3 N MagazineLogan, ARTHE FIRST SIGN OF TORNADO DAMAGE WAS JUST TO THE EAST OF STATE HIGHWAY 109 ABOUT THREE MILES NORTH OF MAGAZINE. ALONG THE PATH,TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN. ROOFING MATERIAL FROM SEVERAL HOMES WAS DAMAGED. SEVERAL OUTBUILDINGS
05:52 UTCTSTM WND DMGAlmaCrawford, ARTREES DOWN IN A LINE FROM ALMA TO MOUNTAINBURG
05:58 UTCTSTM WND DMGSubiacoLogan, ARSOME TELEPHONE LINES DOWN IN THE TOWN OF SUBIACO.
06:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG12 N ClarksvilleJohnson, ARREPORTS OF A TREE DOWN ON A CAR ON HIGHWAY 103 ABOUT 12 MILES NORTH OF CLARKSVILLE, AR.
06:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGNew BlaineLogan, ARSPORADIC TREE DAMAGE WITH ASSOCIATED POWER OUTAGES IN EASTERN LOGAN COUNTY.
06:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGVan BurenCrawford, ARSEVERAL HOMES DAMAGED. AT LEAST ONE SEVERELY.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of November 30, 2018

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 308:58 PM CSTEF0Johnston, OK0.960$6,000
November 309:28 PM CSTEF1Muskogee, OK7.1400$45,000
November 309:36 PM CSTEF0Osage, OK1.5200$15,000
November 309:43 PM CSTEF2Sequoyah, OK47.01,1005$2.0 million
November 3011:09 PM CSTEF2Crawford, AR5.66002$2.5 million
November 3011:17 PM CSTEF1Crawford, AR8.7700$75,000

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.