By JERRY WOFFORD Staff Writer on Jan 31, 2013, at 5:17 PM Updated on 1/31 at 5:17 PM
WEATHER WORLD
We’re used to high winds down here in the southern Great Plains. Yeah, it can be annoying when it gets above 30 mph and blows ...
Five years ago today, insult was added to the grave injuries already inflicted upon Picher, Okla.
An EF-4 tornado slammed ...
It’s apparently Tornado Week at the Weather Channel. The only reason I know that is because there are a handful of Weather ...
Tommy Stouffer, right, looks at his overturned car with his son Jonathan, 11, after a tornado picked it up from the parking lot where he was working across the street and dumped it in the middle of the road, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013, in Adairsville, Ga. A fierce storm system that roared across Georgia has left at least one person dead after it demolished buildings and flipped vehicles on Interstate 75 northwest of Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
We said earlier that it was an active and violent week for
early spring-like storms in the South.
As the severe threat ends and the winter weather threat begins in the East, here is a recap of the storms and tornadoes, that started in the eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas area.
First was the Natural Dam tornado, rated an EF-2 with estimated peak winds between 110 and 120 mph, according to the
preliminary report and subject to change.
The tornado started about 3.4 miles northeast of Short, Okla., in extreme northeastern Sequoyah County and was on the ground for 9 miles before it ended 3.9 miles north of Natural Dam, Ark. in western Crawford County. The damage to property was minimal. Here’s what National Weather Service Tulsa surveyors said:
“It moved through rural areas of both counties snapping and uprooting many hardwood and softwood trees in the path. The most pronounced damage to trees occurred on Rainwater Road northwest of Uniontown in Crawford County where the tornado tore a path through the woods of more than one third of a mile wide. Power poles were snapped and a house had minor damage within the 9-mile long path."
The other tornado to affect our area was in western Arkansas’ Washington County. That EF-1 tornado started 3.5 miles west-northwest of Elkins, a town about 10 miles southwest of Fayetteville. It traveled to the northeast for 4.2 miles and had a damage path about 400 yards at its widest. Its winds were not as strong – between 95 and 105 mph – but it caused much more damage. Between 40 and 50 homes were damaged, the worst had parts of the roof blown off. Trees and power poles were blown down and chicken houses and outbuildings were destroyed.
There were about 30 tornado reports across eight states over two days. Two people were killed in the storms, ending a 220-day streak without a tornado fatality.
-- Jerry Wofford
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