Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas · 2025
EF1 tornado, Elm Grove to Mangrum, Arkansas, May 16, 2025
From Elm Grove to Mangrum, this EF1 tornado ran 7.1 miles across Craighead County on May 16, 2025, touching down at 7:46 AM CDT and reaching 150 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- May 16, 2025
- Touchdown
- 7:46 AM CDT (12:46 UTC)
- Lifted
- 7:53 AM CDT (12:53 UTC)
- On the ground
- 7 minutes
- Path length
- 7.1 miles (11.4 km)
- Path width
- 150 yards (137 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- County
- Craighead County
- Touchdown point
- 35.739, -90.493
- Lift-off point
- 35.782, -90.378
- Record number
- 2505160646-01
The damage survey
11 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MEG, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 90 mph.
- Pole was snapped but did not appear structurally sound
- Damage to small farm building with metal roof removed. Nearby home with minor roof damage.
- 3 power poles replaced. But trees nearby undisturbed
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
A mid-level jet moved across the region during the overnight hours, enhancing lift and weakening the capping inversion. Robust development occurred overnight in a very unstable airmass with plentiful shear. These storms moved east of the region by mid-morning.||The airmass was able to quickly recover as warm, moist air, quickly advected into the region. A cold front moved into the region, triggering storms ahead of the front during the late afternoon. Plentiful shear, helicity, and steep lapse rates supported severe storms that produced all hazards.
An EF1 tornado formed in a field north of County Road 618 just south of Lunsford, overturning a center-pivot irrigation system. The tornado moved northeast, snapping several power poles along County Road 817. One outbuilding and a home sustained roof damage on County Road 815. The tornado crossed the St. Francis River near Sandy, producing minor tree damage on County Road 848 near the Mangrum community before lifting. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 16, 6:35 AM CDT, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- Updated at 629 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
- A regional outbreak of severe thunderstorms is likely this afternoon into tonight with strong tornadoes, perhaps long tracked, damaging winds and very large hail.
- An Enhanced (3 out of 5) to Moderate (4 out of 5) Risk for severe weather is in effect across the northern half of the Mid- South this afternoon into tonight.
- Saturday will be mostly dry and warm.
- Scattered showers and thunderstorms will persist from Saturday night through the middle of next week with chances for severe storms each day, especially Tuesday.
Area forecast discussion, May 16, 6:35 AM CDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Memphis TN 635 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025 ...New AVIATION... .KEY MESSAGES... Updated at 629 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025 - A regional outbreak of severe thunderstorms is likely this afternoon into tonight with strong tornadoes, perhaps long tracked, damaging winds and very large hail. - An Enhanced (3 out of 5) to Moderate (4 out of 5) Risk for severe weather is in effect across the northern half of the Mid- South this afternoon into tonight. - Saturday will be mostly dry and warm. - Scattered showers and thunderstorms will persist from Saturday night through the middle of next week with chances for severe storms each day, especially Tuesday. && .DISCUSSION... (Today through Thursday) Issued at 310 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025 The active spring continues across the Mid-South. Currently we are monitoring a mid level jet moving across the region this morning which will serve to enhance lift and weaken the cap in place across the region. Convection has been struggling so far but the latest CAMs indicate robust development over the next few hours. The airmass is very unstable with MLCAPES of 2500-3500 J/kg. Shear is plenty sufficient for organized storms with 0-6km bulk shear values of 60-70 kts. The main threats will be large hail and damaging winds but the low level thermodynamics could also support a tornado. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 9 am roughly north of I-40. This activity will push east in Middle TN by mid morning as the upper support lifts out. The airmass almost immediately recovers as gusty SSW winds continue to advect warm, moist air into the Mid-South. The airmass becomes very unstable by the afternoon with dewpoints in the lower 70s and enormous MLCAPEs in excess of 3500 J/kg. A cold front approaches the region this afternoon as a mid level jet moves into the Mid-MS Valley. This feature will provide the lift to trigger storms along and just ahead of the front late this afternoon. 0-6km bulk shear values of 50-60 kts this afternoon and evening with 0-1km helicity values increasing to well over 200 m2/s2 will support organized storms. These storms will likely be discrete with all hazards expected including strong tornadoes, perhaps long tracked, very large hail and damaging winds. The lift across the Mid-South is not overwhelming strong which will serve to keep the storms at least semi-discrete as they gradually form into a line during the evening. This will keep the strong tornado threat going well into the evening hours especially along and north of the TN/MS border. The higher end severe threat will end by about midnight as storms move into Middle TN. A lower end severe threat will continue across north MS as convection lingers there until about 4 am. The front/boundary along with associated convection will push well south of the region by Saturday. The Mid-South will be in between systems and should squeak out a pretty nice, warm day with highs in the mid to upper 80s Saturday afternoon. The front/boundary will lift back north into the area starting Saturday night and remain over the region into early next week. This will result in unsettled weather and chances for showers and thunderstorms each day with a low end severe threat. Expect a more organized severe risk by Tuesday as a potent mid level trough pushes across the region along with its associated cold front. Dry and cool weather is expected in the wake of Tuesday's system as a deep upper trough is carved out across the eastern US with NW flow developing across the Mid-South. && .AVIATION... (12Z TAFS) Issued at 629 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025 The main concern this TAF period is thunderstorm development through tonight. Kept PROB30 groups in TAFs for now as confidence for VC mention remains too low, depending on where storms fire this evening. CIGs will bounce between VFR and MVFR as storms move through the area. Otherwise, expect elevated winds today: gusting to 30kts. ANS && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...None. MO...None. MS...None. TN...None. && PUBLIC FORECAST...SJM AVIATION...ANS
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 16, 5:32 AM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
532 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0433 AM Hail Mcdougal 36.44N 90.39W
05/16/2025 E1.75 Inch Clay AR Public
Time is radar estimated.
&&Local storm report, May 16, 5:43 AM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
543 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0532 AM Hail 3 SW Walcott 36.01N 90.70W
05/16/2025 M1.00 Inch Greene AR Public
Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
&&Local storm report, May 16, 5:47 AM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
547 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0543 AM Hail 2 W Paragould 36.06N 90.55W
05/16/2025 M1.00 Inch Greene AR Public
&&Local storm report, May 16, 5:54 AM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
554 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0545 AM Hail 2 NNE Paragould 36.08N 90.50W
05/16/2025 M2.00 Inch Greene AR Public
Time is radar estimated.
&&Local storm report, May 16, 6:02 AM CDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
602 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0507 AM Hail 2 SE Malden 36.55N 89.96W
05/16/2025 M1.75 Inch Dunklin MO Public
Corrects previous hail report from 2 SE
Malden. Report from mPING: Golf Ball (1.75
in.).
&&Local storm report, May 16, 7:09 AM CDT, 37 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
709 AM CDT Fri May 16 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0625 AM Hail 5 E Glennonville 36.57N 90.07W
05/16/2025 M1.00 Inch Dunklin MO Public
Report from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
&&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), 12:00Z
0.8 hours before the tornado, 112 km from the path. May 16, 2025.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2582 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -44 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2879 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 697 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 189 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 329 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 4.2
- Supercell composite
- 17.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.1 K/km
Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 00:00Z
11.2 hours after it, 112 km from the path. May 17, 2025.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2679 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 4669 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 980 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 235 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 222 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.7
- Supercell composite
- 19.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.5 K/km
The surface observations
Jonesboro (JBR), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 69 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 12:44 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 16, 2025
26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16 | 12:42 PM EDT | EF1 | Gloucester, NJ | 8.1 | 300 | $60,000 | ||
| May 16 | 1:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Texas, MO | 2.4 | 100 | $20,000 | ||
| May 16 | 2:52 PM EDT | EF0 | Washington, PA | 0.5 | 75 | $10,000 | ||
| May 16 | 2:39 PM CDT | EF2 | Saint Louis, MO to IL | 23.2 | 1,750 | 4 | 38 | $1.6 billion |
| May 16 | 2:53 PM CDT | EF2 | Iron, MO | 3.3 | 150 | |||
| May 16 | 3:54 PM CDT | EF3 | Stoddard, MO | 16.1 | 200 | 2 | 10 | $15 million |
| May 16 | 3:59 PM CDT | EF0 | Scott, MO | 0.6 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| May 16 | 4:03 PM CDT | EF2 | Cape Girardeau, MO | 1.4 | 225 | $175,000 | ||
| May 16 | 5:51 PM EDT | EF1 | City of Baltimore, MD | 4.3 | 75 | $1.5 million | ||
| May 16 | 6:44 PM EDT | EF2 | Greene, IN | 14.0 | 200 | 1 | 3 | $1.1 million |
| May 16 | 5:52 PM CDT | EF1 | Dorchester, MD to DE | 11.3 | 600 | $50,000 | ||
| May 16 | 5:54 PM CDT | EF1 | Lyon, KY | 0.8 | 210 | $100,000 | ||
| May 16 | 7:15 PM EDT | EF1 | Greene, IN | 1.8 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 16 | 6:15 PM CDT | EF4 | Marion tornado, IL | 16.3 | 900 | 7 | $25 million | |
| May 16 | 7:27 PM EDT | EF2 | Monroe, IN | 35.3 | 350 | $1.2 million | ||
| May 16 | 6:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Crawford, IL to IN | 10.7 | 100 | $15,000 | ||
| May 16 | 6:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Scott, MO | 1.3 | 100 | $175,000 | ||
| May 16 | 6:42 PM CDT | EF2 | Todd, KY | 6.0 | 200 | $1.1 million | ||
| May 16 | 6:48 PM CDT | EF1 | Saline, IL | 6.8 | 75 | $10,000 | ||
| May 16 | 6:56 PM CDT | EF2 | Saline, IL | 9.9 | 250 | $37,000 | ||
| May 16 | 7:58 PM EDT | EF0 | Putnam, IN | 0.4 | 20 | $20,000 | ||
| May 16 | 8:02 PM EDT | EF1 | Dearborn, IN | 6.3 | 250 | $60,000 | ||
| May 16 | 7:16 PM CDT | EF3 | Union, KY | 9.9 | 500 | 4 | $15 million | |
| May 16 | 9:26 PM CDT | EF2 | Christian, KY | 10.0 | 225 | $1.3 million | ||
| May 16 | 9:27 PM CDT | EF4 | London tornado, KY | 60.1 | 1,700 | 18 | ||
| May 16 | 9:55 PM CDT | EF1 | Logan, KY | 2.6 | 75 |
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.