EF2 tornado, Pindall to Canaan, Arkansas, February 16, 2023

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

February 16, 2023

Touchdown

1:59 AM CST (07:59 UTC)

Lifted

2:13 AM CST (08:13 UTC)

On the ground

14 minutes

Path length

11.0 miles (17.7 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$300,000

Counties

Searcy and Marion counties

Touchdown point

36.042, -92.905

Lift-off point

36.108, -92.726

Record number

2302160159-01

18 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LZK, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 121 mph.

• House shifted off foundation by 50 yards. Owner did not want house photographed.

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

Storms developed from the evening hours on the 15th and continued through the early morning hours on the 16th. Large hail, measured wind gusts above 60 mph and three tornadoes occurred during this event. ||This event had two areas of interest. Across the northeast counties, hit and miss thunderstorms popped up, and these were expected to intensify. Meanwhile, a line of storms arrived in the northwest (Ozark Mountains) from Oklahoma, and forecast models showed a weakening trend. In the end, the northeast storms did not amount to much, and storms in the northwest did not fall apart.||The northwest storms showed rotation at times on radar, and Tornado Warnings were issued. This was understandable as values of instability and shear (acquired through balloon launches/soundings) doubled in six hours (from 600 pm CST on the 15th to 1200 am CST on the 16th)! It was a scary situation because the warnings went out in the middle of the night while people were asleep.|Three tornadoes were spawned, and tracked through portions of Marion, Newton, and Searcy Counties. The strongest of these (rated EF2) cut a swath from near Pindall (Searcy County) to a few miles southeast of Bruno (Marion County). A house on a hilltop (directly exposed to the wind) shifted off of its foundation and partially collapsed. Another home was heavily damaged (loss of roof and an outer wall), and part of a roof was removed from a third home. Barns and sheds were roughed up or destroyed, and trees were uprooted or snapped. At least a half dozen roads were blocked by tree debris including Highway 65 (which was closed temporarily). A couple of people suffered minor injuries.||The other two tornadoes (rated EF1) hit in and around Canaan (Searcy County) and along Highway 21 northeast of Fallsville (Newton County). Mainly tree damage was noted, especially with the latter tornado. Any structural damage was generally minor.||Other than the tornadoes, golf ball size hail was reported at Lurton (Newton County) and Ozone (Johnson County). A 62 mph gust was measured at Conway Regional Airport (Faulkner County).

Damage consisted of a couple of houses losing roofing material, barns/sheds damaged or destroyed, and numerous trees uprooted or snapped. The trees blocked half a dozen roads, including Highway 65 which was closed temporarily. The most substantial damage was a house moved from its foundation and then partially collapsing. We would like to thank Searcy and Marion County Emergency Management for assistance with the survey.

Damage consisted of a couple of houses losing roofing material, barns/sheds damaged or destroyed, and numerous trees uprooted or snapped. The trees blocked half a dozen roads, including Highway 65 which was closed temporarily. The most substantial damage was a house moved from its foundation and then partially collapsing. We would like to thank Searcy and Marion County Emergency Management for assistance with the survey.

This tornado touched down near Dakota Rd. and Highway 27. Along the path, trees were uprooted and snapped, , in addition to a roof removed from a small shed. The tornado appears to have dissipated at 225 am CST.

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

8 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:51 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:30 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 05:15 UTC and running to 09:26 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 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.

Flippin (Awos) (FLP), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:56 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 2023 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

11 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.