Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2022

EF1 tornado, Elevenpoint, Arkansas, March 6, 2022

This EF1 tornado ran 2.4 miles across Randolph County on March 6, 2022, touching down at 8:17 PM CST and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 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
March 6, 2022
Touchdown
8:17 PM CST (02:17 UTC)
Lifted
8:20 PM CST (02:20 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.4 miles (3.8 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$200,000
County
Randolph County
Touchdown point
36.371, -91.118
Lift-off point
36.398, -91.093
Record number
2203062017-01

The damage survey

3 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 100 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

At the surface, a front was oriented from southwest to northeast across the state which would help focus the severe weather threat across northern Arkansas. As the upper level storm system moved closer to the area, severe storms developed during the afternoon of March 6th through the morning of the 7th. One main supercell thunderstorm travelled from southeast Johnson County to Randolph County and was responsible for multiple tornadoes through the evening of March 6th. Some additional storms produced mainly weak tornadoes that evening into the early morning hours of the 7th.

This tornado started southeast of Dalton in Randolph County. Several small outbuildings were destroyed, there were softwood, shallow rooted trees uprooted, and there were chicken coops that were either completely or partially destroyed. The tornado track was determined by geotagged photos.

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

The warnings

18 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:59 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:27 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:03 UTC and running to 08:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:20 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WatchLZK
23:30 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningLZK
01:23 UTC02:12 UTCTornado WarningLZK
01:59 UTC02:27 UTCTornado WarningLZK
02:03 UTC08:00 UTCTornado WatchLZK
05:46 UTC06:15 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 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 00:39 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.

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 00:00Z

2.3 hours before the tornado, 202 km from the path. March 7, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2022-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 449 joules per kilogram, CIN -29, lifted condensation level 1244 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 2022-03-07The 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 249 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 55 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
449 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2568 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1244 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
249 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
381 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
16.6
0-3 km lapse rate
7.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 12:00Z

9.7 hours after it, 202 km from the path. March 7, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2022-03-07Temperature 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 -111064, lifted condensation level 694 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2022-03-07The 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 -429 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 67 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111064 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
694 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-429 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
1.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 160 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:15 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
23:28 UTCTORNADO2 Ne HickoriaClay, ARCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 2 NE HICKORIA. BRIEF, RAIN-WRAPPED TORNADO SOUTHWEST OF MCDOUGAL.
00:00 UTCTORNADO4 Sse DaltonRandolph, ARTHIS TORNADO STARTED SOUTHEAST OF DALTON IN RANDOLPH COUNTY. SEVERAL SMALL OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED, THERE WERE SOFTWOOD, SHALLOW ROOTED TREES UPROOTED, AND THERE WERE CHICKEN COOPS THAT WERE EITHER COMPLETELY OR PART
01:32 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 N Evening ShadeSharp, ARTRAINED STORM CHASERS REPORTED POWER FLASHES AND TREE DEBRIS ACROSS HIGHWAY 167 APPROXIMATELY 3 MILES NORTH OF EVENING SHADE, AR. THIS WAS POSSIBLY A TORNADO.
01:36 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N Evening ShadeSharp, ARTRAINED STORM SPOTTER REPORT OF 62 MPH WIND GUST WITH TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN AT THE JUNCTION OF HIGHWAY 167 AND BEAR VALLEY ROAD ABOUT 5 MILES NORTH OF EVENING SHADE, AR.
02:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se DaltonRandolph, ARSEVERAL POWER POLES KNOCKED DOWN ALONG WITH DAMAGE TO POULTRY HOUSES AND TWO STRUCTURES.
02:17 UTCTORNADO4 Sse DaltonRandolph, ARTHIS TORNADO STARTED SOUTHEAST OF DALTON IN RANDOLPH COUNTY. SEVERAL SMALL OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED, THERE WERE SOFTWOOD, SHALLOW ROOTED TREES UPROOTED, AND THERE WERE CHICKEN COOPS THAT WERE EITHER COMPLETELY OR PART

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 6, 2022

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 62:05 AM ESTEF0Cass, IN0.425$15,000
March 64:21 AM ESTEF0Darke, OH2.9100$150,000
March 64:23 AM ESTEF0Shelby, OH2.5100$100,000
March 63:54 PM CSTEF0Craighead, AR2.550
March 65:18 PM CSTEF1Pope, AR15.6600$50,000
March 65:28 PM CSTEF0Clay, AR6.450
March 65:35 PM CSTEF0Butler, MO0.150
March 66:26 PM CSTEF1Stone, AR2.4200$40,000
March 67:17 PM CSTEF2Izard, AR11.38005$405,000

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.