Topic: Tornadoes Violent tornado in central Arkansas 25 April 2011

[Guest]

Tornadoes likely today!
         


Strong tornadoes are possible today from the Arklatex to the Memphis area  in association with a large, powerful storm system that is currently cruising  through the southern Plains and ejecting toward the mid-South. Strong shear and  instability will create conditions favorable for tornadoes from northeast TX  into the mid-MS valley today; the threat will shift east just a bit into  tomorrow and Wednesday, as this multi-day severe weather outbreak continues --  those in the risk area are urged to plan for significant severe weather! Significant flooding will also be an issue for portions of northern AR, southern  MO and points east, as 8+ inches of rain is expected to have fallen by the time  this system has moved out of the area. Major flooding combined with the severe  threat makes this a rather complicated next few days of weather for residents of  the central U.S. As always, a number of chasers will be streaming this event  from the live page.
         

http://www.tornadovideos.net/component/content/article/36-tornadoes/1352-tornadoes-likely-today
         

[Guest]

Violent tornado in central Arkansas this evening.
         

Information is still coming in, but it would appear that a long-tracked,  violent tornado has occurred this evening in central Arkansas. The most violent  velocities were consistent from scan to scan beginning near Maumelle, AR and  continuing northeast until the storm was near Mount Vernon. The town of Vilonia,  pop ~ 2,000, appears to sustained very heavy damage, possibly even a direct hit  on the western side of the city limits. The image at left shows both velocity (left) and reflectivity as the tornado was just southwest of Vilonia, with a "debris ball" clearly visible as the circular center of the hook (click here for more information on the debris ball phenomenon). We will provide updates as more  information becomes available; hopefully the tornado was over open country  during the most intense periods of its life cycle, but unfortunately that seems  unlikely at this point... Tornado watches remain in effect for areas of  northeast TX all the way to southern Illinois into the overnight, and this  severe weather outbreak will continue into tomorrow and Wednesday. Combined with  the extreme flooding mentioned in the last update, the combined time period of  today through Wednesday holds the potential to go down as an historic weather  event in the U.S. Again, residents in the risk areas are strongly urged to remain up to date on local weather information, monitor local media for watches  and warnings, and by all means take shelter if a warning is issued.
         

http://www.tornadovideos.net/component/content/article/36-tornadoes/1353-violent-tornado-in-central-arkansas-this-evening