Tornado in Ashley County, Arkansas

A supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado that moved out of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana into Ashley County, Arkansas, 6 miles southwest of Wilmot. The tornado then moved to the south end of Lake Enterprise, just west of Wilmot. The tornado strengthened and widened as it approached the Wilmot area and was rated as an F3 with a maximum width of one half mile. The tornado destroyed 14 mobile homes and houses and caused extensive damage to five other homes in the vicinity of Wilmot. A church on the north side of Wilmot was completely destroyed. Additionally, a tractor shed housing farm equipment was destroyed, and the equipment inside was also destroyed. As the tornado tracked northeast toward Parkdale, it damaged or destroyed several cotton pickers, trailers, and tractors. The tornado lifted 2.5 miles east-northeast of Parkdale. The total estimated damage of the tornado was $2.0 million. The tornado caused the deaths of three people in the vicinity of Wilmot. Additionally, a total of eleven people sustained injuries.

This tornado started in the swamp area on the eastern side of Felsenthal National Wildlife Refuge and tracked roughly due east and dissipated just after crossing Hancock Road. At the start, a few trees were damaged and that continued as the tornado tracked along Ashley 299 Road. Some trees were uprooted along this part of the path. The tornado intensified as it neared Ashley 14 Road and widened. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped. Several outbuildings were damaged along with other minor damage to some homes with shingles off. Along a portion of Ashley 14 Road, heavy tree damage was noted along with several homes having trees on them. Numerous power lines were down as well. The tornado then weakened some with mostly minor type tree damage. Intensity increased again as it crossed Hancock Road. Here Beulahland Church sustained moderate roof damage along with two other homes having roof damage. Several power lines and poles were down as well. The tornado quickly dissipated just east of Hancock Road. Maximum peak winds were estimated at 108 mph.

The tornado tracked across rural southern Ashley County and snapped and uprooted hundreds of large hardwood and softwood trees. Forty two homes were damaged with approximately 15 homes that were heavily damaged or destroyed. The most intense damage was along Meridian Church Road in southwest Ashley County. Here, intense tree damage resulted in several cross roads being blocked by dozens of trees, and several mobile homes and houses were destroyed by the winds and fallen trees. This was the area rated EF2 with 130 mph winds. Over the last several miles of the track, the tornado was narrower and damage was primarily in the EF1 category.