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| Terrifying picture of the wedge tornado as it moved through Vilonia. The photo is courtesy of Barbara Mullins via Twitter. |
When we talk of significant weather events in Arkansas, one event in particular comes to mind. On April 27th, 2014, the towns of Vilonia, Ferndale, Mayflower, and Saltillo were changed forever. At around 7 PM, a supercell thunderstorm rapidly intensified just northwest of the Little Rock area. This supercell went on to produce an extremely destructive tornado, this tornado tracked 41 miles through Mayflower and Vilonia (both in Faulkner County) before dissipating near El Paso (White County). Tornado Emergencies were issued for these towns by the National Weather Service. The tornado was given a rating of EF-4 (166-200 mph winds).
During this event there were 16 fatalities reported, which makes this the deadliest single tornado in Arkansas since the Jonesboro twister (rated F-4) on May 15, 1968 (35 fatalities). Vilonia is sadly no stranger to dangerous tornadoes. The last time Vilonia was devastated by a tornado was April 25, 2011. On that day, a long-track (just over 51 miles) EF-2 tornado killed four people on the southwest side of town.
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| SPC outlook for April 27th, 2014. Notice the 'high risk' area. |
The event did not come as a surprise, as severe weather was highly anticipated. This event looked ominous, and was expected to become the largest severe weather episode of the spring. Strong tornadoes, EF-2 or larger, and very large and desctructive hail (bigger than golf balls) were anticipated. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma had portions of Arkansas under a rare "high risk" area, while a large "moderate risk" area encompassed a majority of our state.
The tornado left behind several miles of destructive damage. As seen in the image above, cars were taken aloft, and thrown into trees and structures. Gas leaks occurred in areas, power lines were torn down, and homes left damaged, or simply obliterated. It has been estimated that the damage cost was just over 1 billion dollars.
Below are additional photographs from this weather event:
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| Photograph of the tornado as it moved across the Arkansas River |
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| Velocity scan showing very strong Rotation near Saltillo |
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| Major destruction in Mayflower |
When we talk of significant weather events in Arkansas, one event in particular comes to mind. On April 27th, 2014, the towns of Vilonia, Ferndale, Mayflower, and Saltillo were changed forever. At around 7 PM, a supercell thunderstorm rapidly intensified just northwest of the Little Rock area. This supercell went on to produce an extremely destructive tornado, this tornado tracked 41 miles through Mayflower and Vilonia (both in Faulkner County) before dissipating near El Paso (White County). Tornado Emergencies were issued for these towns by the National Weather Service. The tornado was given a rating of EF-4 (166-200 mph winds).
