The National Weather Service has completed their initial damage assessment of the tornado in Benton County. It’s been rated an EF1 with winds from 90-100mph. New information shows the track continued at times all the way to Avoca, AR. It was on the ground for over 12 miles and over 4 football fields wide.
-Garrett
Below is the report issued by the National Weather Service:
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA OK
834 PM CDT SUN OCT 14 2012
…NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 10/13/12 TORNADO EVENT…
.OVERVIEW…
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED DURING THE AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL OKLAHOMA AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT MOVING INTO THE REGION. THESE STORMS MOVED INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS OF THE 13TH. THERE WERE A NUMBER OF OCCURRENCES OF DAMAGING WIND AS THESE STORMS MOVED ACROSS THE AREA AND ONE OF THE STORMS PRODUCED A TORNADO IN BENTON COUNTY ARKANSAS.
.ROGERS ARKANSAS TORNADO…
RATING: EF-1
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 90 TO 100 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 12.5 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 450 YARDS
FATALITIES: 0
INJURIES: 2
START DATE: OCTOBER 13 2012
START TIME: 936 PM CDT
START LOCATION: 4 NNE CAVE SPRINGS / BENTON COUNTY / AR
START LAT/LON: 36.32 / -94.21
END DATE: OCTOBER 13 2012
END TIME: 952 PM CDT
END LOCATION: 3 NE AVOCA / BENTON COUNTY / AR
END LAT/LON: 36.44 / -94.05
SURVEY SUMMARY: A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TULSA METEOROLOGIST AND BENTON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS SURVEYED STORM DAMAGE TODAY THAT OCCURRED SATURDAY EVENING ACROSS BENTON COUNTY ARKANSAS. DAMAGE THAT WAS INVESTIGATED WAS STRONGLY INDICATIVE OF TORNADO DAMAGE WITH TREES AND SIGNS BEING BLOWN DOWN IN A STRONGLY CONVERGENT NATURE THROUGHOUT THE PATH.
THE TORNADO DEVELOPED NORTH-NORTHEAST OF CAVE SPRINGS…EAST OF RAINBOW ROAD AND SOUTH OF STONY BROOK ROAD. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST ACROSS A SUBDIVISION SNAPPING OR UPROOTING A NUMBER OF TREES AND DAMAGING HOMES. ABOUT 450 YARDS WIDE…IT THEN MOVED ACROSS A COMMERCIAL AREA ON THE WEST SIDE OF ROGERS WHERE IT REMOVED PART OF THE ROOF OF A COMMERCIAL BUILDING…BLEW LARGE GLASS WINDOWS OUT OF ANOTHER COMMERCIAL BUILDING…DAMAGED A NUMBER OF OTHER BUILDINGS… SNAPPED OR UPROOTED A NUMBER OF TREES…AND SNAPPED POWER POLES. DEBRIS IMPACTED A VEHICLE… IMPALING THE WINDSHIELD WITH A PIECE OF 2X4 WOOD AND SHATTERING SEVERAL OF THE WINDOWS. TWO PEOPLE WERE INJURED BY GLASS AND FLYING DEBRIS IN THE VEHICLE. DAMAGE IN THIS AREA INDICATED WIND SPEED IN THE TORNADO WAS AS MUCH AS 90 TO 100 MPH.
THE TORNADO THEN CROSSED I-540 AND WENT ACROSS ANOTHER SUBDIVISION OF HOMES. MANY TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED AND HOMES WERE DAMAGED. TREE DAMAGE BECAME LESS CONCENTRATED FOR A BIT AFTER THE TORNADO CROSSED HIGHWAY 94 BUT WAS INTERMITTENTLY STILL IN THE EF-1 CATEGORY. DAMAGE NORTHEAST OF AVOCA WAS ONCE AGAIN VERY CONCENTRATED WITH A NUMBER OF SNAPPED OR UPROOTED TREES AS WELL AS HOME AND BARN DAMAGE. IT DISSIPATED IN THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE PEA RIDGE NATIONAL MILITARY PARK.
EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.
EF0…WEAK……65 TO 85 MPH
EF1…WEAK……86 TO 110 MPH
EF2…STRONG….111 TO 135 MPH
EF3…STRONG….136 TO 165 MPH
EF4…VIOLENT…166 TO 200 MPH
EF5…VIOLENT…>200 MPH
NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA. PLEASE CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN TULSA IF YOU HAVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS TORNADO THAT MAY HELP COMPLETE OUR ANALYSIS OF THE EVENT.
