Forecasters Assign EF-1 Rating to Arkansas Tornado

The National Weather Service in Little Rock has given a tornado that caused damage in central Arkansas a preliminary rating of EF-1.

Meteorologists surveyed an area of Van Buren County on April 16 and found a 2.3-mile long, 300-yard wide damage path. Forecasters say it began about 3.1 miles southeast of Morganton and ended 4.1 miles east of the town on April 15.

The Van Buren Sheriff’s office said it received no reports of injuries with the storm, which radar estimated moved through about 6:10 p.m.

The weather service says besides tree and power line damage, a travel trailer was overturned and minor damage was done to a house and a vacant mobile home.

Forecasters say an unoccupied home in Conway County near Ada was destroyed when a lightning strike sparked a fire.