Two rare August tornadoes touched down Monday night in northeast Arkansas, leaving a trail of damage, a National Weather Service survey determined Tuesday.
One twister, an EF-1, hit about 7 miles west-southwest of Paragould, according to Phil Baker, a meteorologist with the agency’s Memphis office. On the ground for about 2.5 miles, it had peak winds of between 85 and 90 mph.
Baker said another tornado, an EF-0 with estimated winds of 70 mph, touched down around 5 miles east of Marmaduke.
Tuesday’s survey in Greene County confirmed preliminary information that the weather service had received Monday night, including pictures on social media, the meteorologist noted.
A grain hauler truck and mobile home were reported overturned about three miles east-northeast of Crowley’s Ridge Street. Several trees were also said to have been downed.
Tornadoes are rare this time of year in the South because the typical summertime climate makes the northern U.S. more susceptible to such spin-ups, Baker said.
“We don’t typically see those low pressure systems this time of year,” the meteorologist said, noting that Arkansas is usually in a “large ridge of high pressure.”
Over the past 10 years, only one tornado has been recorded in Arkansas during August, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That twister, an EF-0 that hit Aug. 31, 2017, had estimated winds of up to 75 mph south of Helena-West Helena, said Chris Buonanno, science and operations officer with the weather service's North Little Rock office.
Eighteen tornadoes have been reported in Arkansas during the month since the weather service began collecting data in 1950, Buonanno said.
Monday’s storms also damaged an elementary school roof in Brinkley and ripped the tin roof off a shed in Crossett, reports show. In Conway County, a survey determined that thunderstorm winds downed trees and damaged a mobile home south of the Arthur community.