The National Weather Service said Wednesday that a severe weather system in Arkansas likely produced the nation’s first tornado for the month of March, ending a twister drought in a month when tornado season is usually starting to ramp up for parts of the U.S.
Meteorologist Jeff Hood in Little Rock said it appears a weak “waterspout” tornado briefly touched down in Bull Shoals Lake in Marion County in northwest Arkansas on Tuesday night. He said it will likely be classified an EF0 — the weakest tornado with wind speeds of 65 to 85 mph. The tornado never made it onto land, and there were no reports of damage.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center still must confirm it was indeed a tornado. The question is whether it was strong enough to be classified as one. Official documentation could take months, according to Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist for the Storm Prediction Center. But Carbin said his read of the preliminary reports suggests it probably was a tornado.
Before this week, only about two-dozen twisters had been recorded so far this year during a period when 100 or more are typical. That’s because stable air had been preventing the ingredients of the violent storms from coming together.
The last time the U.S. had no twisters in March was nearly 50 years ago, according to figures from the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Whether or not Tuesday produced this March’s first tornado, the twister drought was likely to end soon. Another storm system rolling through parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri on Wednesday could produce twisters, though Hood said the greatest threat was large hail.
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Associated Press reporter Ken Miller contributed to this report from Oklahoma City. Juozapavicius reported from Tulsa.
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