MISSOURI – The National Weather Service has confirmed that a powerful tornado traveled 117 miles across state lines from Arkansas into Missouri during a tornado outbreak in mid-March.
This tornado ripped through both states during the late-evening hours of March 14. The new designation was confirmed nearly a month later after updated NWS damage surveys, according to a Weather.com report from The Weather Channel.
The long-tracked tornado began around Alco, Arkansas, headed primarily in a northeast direction, and ended around Lone Hill, Missouri, according to data obtained by FOX 2 from an NWS damage assessment tool.
Some points along the path reported peak tornado speeds of 170 miles per hour. Most areas along the path reported damage consistent with EF1 or EF2 tornado rankings. However, parts of Stone and Sharp counties in Arkansas experienced the strongest impacts, with damage rated at EF3 and EF4 in some locations.
Such long-track tornadoes are rare. According to the NOAA Storm Prediction Center, the average tornado path is around 3.5 miles long and lasts less than 10 minutes.
The long-tracked tornado was several hours south of the St. Louis region, though it was still hit hard during the outbreak. In total, the National Weather Service confirmed 14 tornadoes during the same outbreak, which included one with a 30-mile path from Clarkson Valley, Missouri, to Alton, Illinois.
NOTE: Video is from FOX 2’s report of tornado damage in Villa Ridge, Missouri.