EF1 tornado, Clover Bend to Ponders, Arkansas, March 15, 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF1, preliminary

Date

March 15, 2026

Touchdown

5:43 PM CDT (22:43 UTC)

Lifted

5:53 PM CDT (22:53 UTC)

On the ground

10 minutes

Path length

10.5 miles (17.0 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Lawrence County

Touchdown point

35.962, -91.089

Lift-off point

35.992, -90.906

Highest wind the damage implies

105 mph

Surveyed by

NWS LZK

The office's name for it

Minturn Tornado

Survey last edited

March 17, 2026

Record number

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

The tornado began along County Road 547 where it damaged several power poles. The tornado continued toward the northeast over mostly farmland along County Road 534. It then moved into the town of Minturn where numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. Additionally, a few mobile homes sustained roof damage. The tornado then crossed over Highway 67 and Narrow Gauge Road where more trees were uprooted. As it continued toward the northeast it tracked over more farmland before causing minor roof damage to a barn off County Road 701. The tornado continued toward County Road 705 where it downed more trees and power poles before dissipating.

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

25 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LZK and NWS MEG, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

• Multiple power poles down.
• Bottom of pole rotten so lowered speed
• Farm equipment knocked over, broken power poles and damaged shed.
• Brick exterior wall car port collapsed.

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

A deepening surface low pressure system was centered over Illinois and an attendant cold front extended south-southwestward sweeping from west to east across Arkansas during the afternoon and evening hours of March 15, 2026. Multiple severe thunderstorms developed in a well-defined warm sector positioned across the state where storms matured and quickly became severe producing large hail, damaging wind gusts, and tornadoes.

This tornado began along County Road 547 where it damaged several power poles. The tornado continued towards the northeast over mostly farmland along County Road 534. It then moved into the town of Minturn where numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. Additionally, a few mobile homes sustained roof damage. The tornado then crossed over Interstate 67 and Narrow Gauge Road where more trees were uprooted. As it continued to the northeast, it tracked over more farmland before causing minor roof damage to a barn off County Road 701. The tornado continued toward County Road 705 where it downed more trees and power poles before dissipating. This tornado was rated EF1 with estimated maximum winds of 105 mph.

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

0 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:43 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:53 UTC and running to 00:16 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.

Walnut Ridge (Awos) (ARG), 18 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 124 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:43 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.