Weather service confirms EF-0 landspout tornado in last week's storms in Arkansas

The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 landspout tornado blew across an eastern Arkansas field Friday afternoon.

The landspout developed about 5:15 p.m. near Wynne in Cross County and lasted for about a minute, forecasters said. The system, packing winds up to 65 mph, traveled less than half a mile and did not cause any damage.

Friday's landspout was photographed by Wynne resident Thomas McCutchen and posted on social media.

Unlike traditional tornadoes, which form within a storm rotation and descend to the ground, landspouts develop on the ground and are sucked up to the cloud base by an upward-rotating wind, National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Branda said.

They typically form on humid days over flat ground — common in eastern Arkansas, eastern Colorado and west Texas — and are unlikely to develop into strong, powerful storms that cause significant damage, he said.

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