EF1 tornado, Greenwood to Vesta, Arkansas, May 18, 2019

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 18, 2019

Touchdown

2:10 PM CDT (19:10 UTC)

Lifted

2:19 PM CDT (19:19 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

7.3 miles (11.7 km)

Path width

1,000 yards (914 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$25,000

Counties

Sebastian and Franklin counties

Touchdown point

35.286, -94.117

Lift-off point

35.352, -94.015

Record number

1905181310-01

71 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.

• leaning northeast. confluence
• several uprooted and snapped concentrated
• chicken house roof damage blown to the north
• snapped and uprooted pointing north

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

A squall line moved through northwestern Arkansas during the early afternoon hours of May 18th. Very strong low level wind shear and moderately strong instability ahead of the squall line resulted in the development of several tornadoes, as well as damaging wind, as the line of thunderstorms moved across the area.

This tornado developed over northwest Greenwood, and moved east-northeast across the northern portion of town. It moved onto Fort Chaffee, where it dissipated. Homes were damaged, numerous trees were snapped or uprooted, and power poles were snapped by this tornado. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 100 to 110 mph.

This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. This tornado developed over a subdivision north of Ozark Lake where homes were damaged and trees were snapped. The tornado moved northeast, crossing the Arkansas River and into Crawford County. Based on the damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 90 to 100 mph.

This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. This tornado developed south of Highway 22, west of Marietta Church Road, and moved northeast across Highway 22 where trees were uprooted. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 90 to 100 mph. The tornado continued into Franklin County.

This is the second segment of a two-segment tornado. Shortly after crossing into Franklin County, this tornado uprooted trees on Robertson Road. It continued northeast uprooting trees, damaging the roofs of homes, and damaging chicken houses on Jetton Road and Highway 217. The tornado dissipated east of N Rattlesnake Road. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:54 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 14:10 UTC and running to 20:45 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 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 16:26 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.

Fort Smith Municipal (FSM), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 27 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:09 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 2019 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.