A tornado briefly touched down on a field north of Pine Bluff on Wednesday afternoon, the National Weather Service in North Little Rock confirmed.
Video from Eric Smith that was posted online by Little Rock TV station KATV shows a funnel cloud that kicked up dust in the area of U.S. 79 and Arkansas 31 for about 30 seconds after 1 p.m. Smith told the station the tornado touched down twice.
Justin Condry of the Weather Service said the tornado would officially be rated EF-U, which means the tornado registered less than 65 mph on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
The tornado caused no reported damage and posed no immediate risk to life or property, Condry said.
A hazardous weather outlook was forecast for many Arkansas counties including Jefferson on Wednesday afternoon. Scattered showers and thunderstorms were expected to persist across much of the state Wednesday. The Weather Service forecast that a few storms could become strong to severe with gusty winds the main threat, and excessive wind shear could result in the formation of brief, weak tornadoes.
Heavy rainfall throughout south and central Arkansas could lead to flash flooding through Tuesday, according to the Weather Service.