Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2023

EF0 tornado, Weathers, Arkansas, April 5, 2023

This EF0 tornado ran 2.8 miles across Madison County on April 5, 2023, touching down at 5:50 AM CDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
April 5, 2023
Touchdown
5:50 AM CDT (10:50 UTC)
Lifted
5:53 AM CDT (10:53 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
2.8 miles (4.5 km)
Path width
300 yards (274 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Madison County
Touchdown point
35.967, -93.524
Lift-off point
35.993, -93.487
Record number
2304050450-01

The damage survey

6 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 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

Strong to severe thunderstorms developed into northwestern Arkansas during the early morning hours of the 5th, ahead of and along a cold front that moved through the region. The air mass had become moderately unstable ahead of the front. Deep layer wind shear was strong, and combined with the instability, resulted in a few supercell thunderstorms developing over portions of northwestern Arkansas. One supercell produced a tornado and damaging wind in northeastern Carroll County, and another supercell produced a brief tornado in eastern Madison County. A squall line along the cold front then moved through the region. The strongest storms in the line produced hail up to quarter size.

This tornado snapped large tree limbs and uprooted small trees. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 75 to 80 mph.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS TSA issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:44 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 09:54 UTC and running to 13:52 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
07:27 UTC09:54 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchTSA
09:54 UTC13:52 UTCTornado WatchTSA
10:25 UTC10:48 UTCTornado WarningTSA
10:44 UTC11:00 UTCTornado WarningTSA
11:05 UTC11:25 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTSA

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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:52 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

10.8 hours before the tornado, 106 km from the path. April 5, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2023-04-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1291 joules per kilogram, CIN -109, lifted condensation level 1115 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 2023-04-05The 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 476 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 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
1291 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-109 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1790 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1115 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
476 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
702 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
6.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

1.2 hours after it, 106 km from the path. April 5, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2023-04-05Temperature 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 -90572, lifted condensation level 530 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 12:00Z on 2023-04-05The 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 -94 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 83 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
-90572 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
83 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
2.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Western Arkansas radar (KSRX), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:49 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
10:47 UTCTSTM WND DMGBerryvilleCarroll, ARDAMAGE REPORTED AT BERRYVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. TREE DAMAGE AND METAL ROOFS PEELED BACK. PHOTOS SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY BROADCAST MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
10:52 UTCTORNADO2 Nne WeathersMadison, ARA TORNADO SNAPPED LARGE TREE LIMBS AND UPROOTED SMALL TREES.
11:29 UTCHAIL 0.751 Ene Shady GroveWashington, AR
13:18 UTCHAIL 11 Nw OlveyBoone, ARREPORT VIA A SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 5, 2023

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 52:48 AM CDTEF1Carter, MO6.4300$210,000
April 53:30 AM CDTEF2Bollinger, MO20.715054$2.0 million
April 54:48 AM CDTEF0Henry, IL3.150
April 56:03 AM CDTUnratedCarroll, AR1.9250
April 56:38 AM CDTEF0Walworth, WI0.575$6,000
April 58:44 AM CDTEF0Cass, TX0.250
April 511:58 AM EDTEF0Montgomery, IN0.320$50,000
April 51:26 PM CDTEF1Ballard, KY0.625$25,000
April 52:02 PM CDTEF0Calloway, KY5.450$100,000
April 52:42 PM CDTEF0Spencer, IN3.025$25,000
April 53:14 PM CDTEF1Perry, IN0.870
April 54:41 PM EDTEF1Meade, KY0.350
April 54:58 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY0.8100
April 55:05 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY0.475
April 55:05 PM EDTEF1Jefferson, KY0.9100
April 55:33 PM EDTEF0Fairfield, OH4.7100$250,000
April 55:39 PM EDTEF0Fairfield, OH1.0100$250,000

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.