EF2 tornado, Hopewell to Libby, Arkansas, September 1, 2020

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

September 1, 2020

Touchdown

3:07 PM CDT (20:07 UTC)

Lifted

3:16 PM CDT (20:16 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

5.3 miles (8.5 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$50,000

County

Cleburne County

Touchdown point

35.431, -92.037

Lift-off point

35.460, -91.950

Record number

2009011407-01

On the 1st, several inches of rain dumped from Mena (Polk County) and Waldron (Scott County) to Russellville (Pope County), and Mountain View (Stone County).||The ground was already saturated in parts of the west after more than a foot of precipitation in August. Water had nowhere to go, and flooding became life threatening. At Waldron (Scott County), numerous roads were under water (including Highways 28 and 71), and this was spilling into homes and businesses. Local residents had to be rescued. Major flooding occurred along the Petit Jean River at Danville (Yell County), with a Top 10 highest crest by the 2nd.||County roads were flooded near the Petit Jean River at Booneville (Logan County). More county roads were inundated with water at Dardanelle (Yell County), and parts of Highways 27 and 28 were affected. An overflowing creek closed Highway 28 around Bluffton (Yell County). County roads were washed out near Hanover (Stone County). Highway 115 was flooded and shut down near Jessup (Lawrence County).||One storm produced three tornadoes from central into northeast sections of the state (Conway, Faulkner, and Cleburne Counties). The strongest of the tornadoes (rated EF2) cut a 5.3 mile swath through areas just south and southeast of Heber Springs (Cleburne County) between 300 pm and 330 pm CDT on the 1st. Tree damage was extensive, with numerous trees snapped four to five miles southeast of town. Some trees were on a home, and a few outbuildings were damaged.||The other two tornadoes (rated EF0/EF1) tracked just north of Plumerville and Menifee (both in Conway County), and northwest of Wooster and Greenbrier (both in Faulkner County). More trees were uprooted, and there was some minor structural damage.

This tornado formed near Candlestick Road east of Hwy 5, damaging several trees and an outbuilding. The tornado continued northeast damaging more trees and outbuildings along Blakey Circle and Blakey Road. The tornado then continued northeast crossing the Little Red River along Wildflower Road, snapping many healthy trees. This is where the strongest winds were noted. The tornado lifted shortly after this location.

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

12 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:55 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:40 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.

Searcy Municipal Airport (M07) (SRC), 35 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:04 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.

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 2020 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

6 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.