EF0 tornado, Light to Lafe, Arkansas, March 15, 2026

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.

Rating, as surveyed

EF0, preliminary

Date

March 15, 2026

Touchdown

6:07 PM CDT (23:07 UTC)

Lifted

6:10 PM CDT (23:10 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

2.2 miles (3.5 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Greene County

Touchdown point

36.179, -90.621

Lift-off point

36.182, -90.584

Highest wind the damage implies

80 mph

Surveyed by

NWS MEG

The office's name for it

Beech Grove, AR

Survey last edited

March 19, 2026

Record number

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

This tornado started along Highway 34 W and damaged the roof of a metal outbuilding and the roof of a residence. Some damage to tree branches in this area was also noted. The tornado moved eastward towards Greene Road 125 where additional tree damage occurred along with minor damage to a barn. This tornado was rated EF-0 with 80 winds. The tornado lifted in a wooded area near Greene Road 125.

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

37 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.

• Tree down blocking the road between Lafe and Marmaduke along Hwy 34
• Numerous large branches down
• Numerous snapped branches north to tree line
• A camper was flipped and a pole knocked down.

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

A negatively tilted upper-level trough began to deepen as it moved from the northern Rockies into the Middle Mississippi Valley on Sunday afternoon, driving a potent cold front eastward. Mid-level heights also began to fall Sunday afternoon as impressive kinematics overspread the region. Moderately steep mid-level lapse rates greater than 7 C/km, along with SBCAPE values of 750-1200 J/kg and storm relative helicity values upwards of 300 m2/s2 developed ahead of the cold front. An impressive line of storms formed along and ahead of the cold front, producing a half dozen weak tornadoes, 75+ mph wind gusts, and large hail across the Mid-South.

A tornado began just south of Highway 412, damaging a grain bin and snapping a few trees along County Road 300. The tornado then caused damage to a camper along County Road 208. This tornado continued east-northeast and damaged an outbuilding on County Road 205 and caused tree damage at the intersection of County Road 205 and 214. This tornado resulted in EF-0 damage with 85 mph winds. The tornado lifted east of County Road 214.

This tornado started along Highway 34 W and damaged the roof of a metal outbuilding and the roof of a residence. Some damage to tree branches in this area was also noted. The tornado moved eastward towards Greene Road 125, where additional tree damage occurred along with minor damage to a barn. This tornado was rated EF-0 with 80 mph winds. The tornado lifted in a wooded area near Greene Road 125.

The tornado touched down in a wooded area west of County Road 138 southwest of Lafe. Tree damage was noted as the tornado crossed County Road 138 with additional tree damage near County Road 151. The tornado continued northeast, causing minor roof damage to a residence near the intersection of Greene Roads 151 and 142. A small barn was also destroyed off Greene Road 142 near Highway 135. The tornado crossed Highway 135 and damaged a barn just south of Highway 34 E. This damage was consistent with a 90 mph EF1 tornado. The tornado lifted in a wooded area north of Highway 34 E.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:47 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:57 UTC and running to 01:14 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 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 19:57 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.

Corning (4M9), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:05 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 2026 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

43 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.