6/20/07 DISC: AR

[Kurt Wayne]

Hopefully some of our resident chasers from NWA (Northwest Arkansas) were able to see this though it's doubtful given the circumstances...an EF1 rated tornado touched down in far northwest Van Buren, AR (Fort Smith metropolitan area, immediately north of the Arkansas River) at around noon today.

The NBC affiliate meteorologist said this rotation spun up in a matter of 4 minutes...too short of a time to issue a warning. At least 14 homes were damaged - the CBS affiliate said a few homes were destroyed but given the low strength I'd be curious on that.

 

[Brian Emfinger]

I was out and I nearly did head that direction but unfortunately stayed further east. The spin up was indeed fast...it only showed on one scan! The formation of the storm was kinda interesting though. The tornado formed near the center of circulation of a mcs that had really wrapped up.

I havent seen any pictures yet because they have the area blocked off but the emergency manager said that 4 homes were destroyed. They may have been mobile homes however as there are several in that location.