Intense storms lash, soak state, spawn tornado

Utility workers work Monday afternoon to restore power in the Cammack Village area. Storms on Sunday night knocked out power to 20,590 Entergy customers throughout the state, a spokesman said.
Utility workers work Monday afternoon to restore power in the Cammack Village area. Storms on Sunday night knocked out power to 20,590 Entergy customers throughout the state, a spokesman said.

Severe storms that originated in north Texas and southern Oklahoma pushed into Arkansas on Monday afternoon with heavy rains and winds clocking in at up to 80 mph.

The National Weather Service in North Little Rock confirmed that a tornado touched down briefly near Ola in Yell County on Monday evening, but there were reports of minimal damage. Meteorologist Jeff Hood of North Little Rock said meteorologists saw video of the short-lived twister taken by a storm spotter.

Daniel Park, a dispatcher with the Yell County sheriff's office, said the tornado crossed Arkansas 10 but the only damage was to some chicken houses in its path.

"It was pretty severe, but there was no big property-damage losses that we can see at this time, no injuries, no fatalities," Park said.

Krista Guthrie, state Office of Emergency Management spokesman, said that statewide there were no injury nor fatality reports as of late Monday.

"Right now we are taking care of life and limb first," she said, regarding appraisal of the storms. "We will be assessing the damage in the daylight hours."

The weather service also issued tornado warnings for Pope and Faulkner counties, but no tornadoes were spotted.

The storms' intensities began dying down Monday evening as temperatures cooled, but forecasters called for heavy rains through the night and today, creating concerns of flash flooding. A flash-flood warning was in effect for much of the central part of the state through 3 a.m. today.

Monday's system grew as it entered Arkansas, feeding on warm, unstable air.

Hood said meteorologists released a weather balloon at the service office near the North Little Rock airport about 1 p.m. and then a second on at 6 p.m. to compare weather data. Hood said the the amount of instability aloft increased greatly over the five hours.

The large system, which stretched from the Texas Gulf Coast to Oklahoma, "bowed" in Arkansas, or formed a C-shape on radar, indicating the storm produced strong winds. Hood said several areas in Logan, Scott and Pope counties reported winds from 70 mph to 80 mph.

"There was a long line from Dallas to Norman, Okla., that had an uninterrupted path into Arkansas," Hood said of the storm system.

Winds toppled trees and downed power lines Monday evening.

In Union County, straight-line winds snapped trees, blocking roads and knocking out power. Fallen trees caused extensive damage to the community center in Strong, but no injuries were reported.

"We've had quite a bit going on in this part of the state," said Sgt. Erick Meadows of the Union County sheriff's office. "There was extensive damage along [U.S.] 82 and trees down across power lines."

In Benton, trees were knocked down on Interstate 30 near Exit 117, temporarily blocking all lanes of traffic. The Benton Police Department tweeted at 10:46 p.m. that all lanes of traffic were open.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center also reported that numerous trees were down across Hot Springs Village in Saline county, with several trees on houses.

In Pulaski County, trees crashed down on vehicles and homes in Maumelle. Downed trees and power lines were reported all around the county, but no injuries were reported.

Hail the size of ping-pong balls fell on Linker Mountain in Pope County near Dover, according to the center. Russellville also reported large hail.

Damage to numerous structures was reported in Big Fork in Polk County, with numerous trees and power lines down.

"Everybody is still working," Mike Godfrey, with the Polk County sheriff's office, said. "It was just extremely high winds."

Faulkner County Sheriff Andy Shock said in a news release that he had "tons of debris" in roadways, a few trees down and one home damaged by high winds.

At the storm's peak, Entergy Arkansas reported 29,500 homes and businesses were without power, said Sally Graham, a spokesman for the state's largest utility. Most of the power disruptions were reported in Garland and Pulaski counties.

"The ground is so saturated from the previous rains that it doesn't take much to topple a tree onto lines," Graham said.

Some areas hit Monday had just had power restored after strong storms raked the area Sunday, she said.

"We're expecting lines down, poles broken and transformers damaged by lightning," she said. "We had a lot of lightning strikes with the storm Monday."

Graham said she expected power would be restored to all customers by Wednesday evening.

Flooding remains a concern throughout the state this week.

The Arkansas River, just now receding from heavy rains last week, is expected to rise above flood stage at all but Little Rock's gauge this week.

The river reached 32 feet in Fort Smith on Monday evening and was expected to crest at 32.5 feet early this morning. Flood stage there is 22 feet.

In Little Rock, the river measured 13.5 feet but is forecast to rise to 22.5 feet Thursday morning. Flood stage there is 23 feet.

State Desk on 05/26/2015

Upcoming Events