Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2019

EF1 tornado, Ralph to Rush, Arkansas, February 7, 2019

From Ralph to Rush, this EF1 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Marion County on February 7, 2019, touching down at 4:27 AM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, and did $100,000 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 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
February 7, 2019
Touchdown
4:27 AM CST (10:27 UTC)
Lifted
4:30 AM CST (10:30 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.6 miles (4.2 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
$100,000
Crop damage
$30,000
County
Marion County
Touchdown point
36.119, -92.653
Lift-off point
36.138, -92.612
Record number
1902070427-01

The damage survey

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LZK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 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

A strong storm system moved across the region, bringing a wide range of weather to the central portion of the country. North and west of Arkansas, wintry weather was seen while in Arkansas severe weather was observed. Several thunderstorms produced damage across portions of northern and central Arkansas.

This tornado developed on the west side of State Hwy 14 before crossing that highway and continuing further northeast. Trees were uprooted or snapped and utility poles where knocked down along its path, along with damage to a home along County Road 6089. This tornado continued towards Crestwood Terrace Road where it damaged some mobile homes before dissipating shortly afterwards.

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

The warnings

4 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:23 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 10:47 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 08:23 UTC and running to 14:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
08:23 UTC14:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLZK
09:58 UTC10:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLZK
10:23 UTC10:47 UTCTornado 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:53 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

10.5 hours before the tornado, 135 km from the path. February 7, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2019-02-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -90713, lifted condensation level 425 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2019-02-07The 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 399 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90713 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
425 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
399 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
372 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

1.5 hours after it, 135 km from the path. February 7, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2019-02-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 16 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 350 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2019-02-07The 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 458 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 knots.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
350 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
458 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
610 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
0.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 141 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:30 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
10:26 UTCTORNADO3 Sse RalphMarion, ARTHE NWS SURVEY TEAM HAS CONFIRMED AN EF1 TORNADO SOUTH OF YELLVILLE, OR NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF RALPH ALONG HWY 14. ADDITIONAL DETAILS REGARDING THIS TORNADO WILL COME LATER ONCE MORE DATA IS RECIEVED.
10:27 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S YellvilleMarion, ARNUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWNED ALONG HIGHWAY 14 SOUTH OF YELLVILLE. FALLEN TREES WERE ON AT LEAST TWO HOMES.
10:27 UTCTORNADO3 Sse RalphMarion, ARUPDATED TIME AND DETAILS-TORNADO RATED EF1. THIS TORNADO FORMED ABOUT 4 MILES SSE OF THE COMMUNITY OF RALPH, OR 7 MILES SSE OF YELLVILLE IN SOUTHERN MARION CO. NEAR STATE HWY 14. SOME TREES WERE BLOWN OVER ALONG WITH DAM
10:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGYellvilleMarion, ARLOCAL COORDINATOR REPORTED DOWNED TREES AND POWER LINES ARE BLOCKING HIGHWAY 14 SOUTH NEAR YELLVILLE. THREE PEOPLE ARE REPORTED TRAPPED IN THEIR HOMES.
13:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGMountain ViewStone, ARNUMEROUS TREES REPORTED DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY WITH AT LEAST ONE HOME RECEIVING ROOF DAMAGE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 7, 2019

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 711:47 AM ESTEF0Knox, IN3.0300$15,000
February 711:12 AM CSTEF1Gibson, IN2.5100$150,000
February 711:57 AM CSTEF1Henderson, KY1.430$5,000
February 73:17 PM ESTEF0Clark, OH7.5150$40,000

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.