EF2 tornado, Keevil to Emmons, Arkansas, April 28, 2026

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, as surveyed

EF2, preliminary

Date

April 28, 2026

Touchdown

7:50 PM CDT (00:50 UTC)

Lifted

7:59 PM CDT (00:59 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

5.1 miles (8.2 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Monroe County

Touchdown point

34.788, -91.244

Lift-off point

34.796, -91.156

Highest wind the damage implies

120 mph

Surveyed by

NWS LZK

The office's name for it

Keevil Tornado

Survey last edited

April 30, 2026

Record number

None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

This tornado developed near the community of Keevil near the intersection of AR Hwy 17 and Hildson Lane near the Union Pacific Rail Road tracks. Debris evidence began with large limbs down in the tree-line, and then the tornado tracked generally east towards US HWY 49 when several power poles were snapped, and a house and out-building were damaged. The tornado then crossed Stoops Road where it completely destroyed an vacant 1930s farm house resting on cinder blocks. Several large oak trees around the house were all snapped in half. Along Stoops Rd, 24 power poles were snapped in half as the tornado crossed the road. The tornado then crossed another tree-line damaging a few more trees before dissipating in the fields near Mopac Road. This tornado produced maximum estimated wind speeds of 120 mph, consistent with an EF-2 rating.

Written by NWS LZK in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

21 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 122 mph.

• Video on X shows roof damage to home.
• Video on social media shows numerous trees uprooted.
• Power pole replaced, old pole not obviously broken
• Major damage to house, most of the roof in the back of house removed

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

Enter narrative here.

This tornado developed near the community of Keevil near the|intersection of AR Hwy 17 and Hildson Lane near the Union Pacific|Rail Road tracks. Debris evidence began with large limbs down in|the tree-line, and then the tornado tracked generally east|towards US HWY 49 when several power poles were snapped, and a|house and out-building were damaged. The tornado then crossed|Stoops Road where it completely destroyed an vacant 1930s farm|house resting on cinder blocks. Several large oak trees around|the house were all snapped in half. Along Stoops Rd, 24 power|poles were snapped in half as the tornado crossed the road. The|tornado then crossed another tree-line damaging a few more trees|before dissipating in the fields near Mopac Road. This tornado|produced maximum estimated wind speeds of 120 mph, consistent|with an EF-2 rating.

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

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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.

Stuttgart (Awos) (SGT), 40 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), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:47 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

15 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.