The National Weather Service confirmed two tornado tracks from Sunday night’s storms.
The new information from this report is confirmation that the tornado which first touched down near Siloam Springs was on the ground for 31 miles and was up to 1.5 miles wide at times. The tornado lasted a full 30 minutes.
The National Weather Services notes that not all of the damage in Benton County is tornado damage. Straight-line winds up to 90 mph were along and south of the tornado’s track for much of its lifespan.
Here are more of the details from the National Weather Service report.
The first tornado touched down at 12:01 a.m. near the state line and was on the ground for 9.1 miles lifting 2.5 miles SE of Siloam Springs.
The second tornado touched down at 12:08 a.m. and lifted at 12:38 a.m. This tornado was 1.5 miles wide and was on the ground for 31.4 miles. This tornado was also ruled an EF1 tornado. This tornado hit Highfill, Rogers, Cave Springs & lifted 3.7 miles SE of Avoca.
The National Weather Service noted the extensive nature of the straight-lines winds across most of Benton County which occurred south of the tornado’s track. Straight-line winds were responsible for the storm fatality near Beaver Lake.
-Garrett
