A tornado has touched down in the Almyra community in Arkansas County, the National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday.
The tornado landed at about 6:05 p.m. as much of Arkansas braced for wind and heavy rainfall along what the NWS calls a stalled frontal boundary extending from the southwest to the northeast across Arkansas. The strength of the tornado was not immediately known.
Eight southeast Arkansas counties including Jefferson and Arkansas are among 21 in the state placed under a tornado watch through midnight Thursday. The frontal boundary may drift either northwest or southeast across the state, and multiple rounds of heavy thunderstorms are expected to drop 6-10 inches of rain across the flood watch area, according to the NWS.
“Isolated pockets of 12 to 15 inches of rain are also possible wherever heavy thunderstorms fall over the same area for consecutive days,” the NWS reported.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The NWS considers a heavy rainfall event of this magnitude falling within four days to occur once every 25 to 100 years. Jefferson County is also under a wind advisory until midnight Thursday and a flood watch until 7 a.m. Sunday.
For Wednesday much of Arkansas including Jefferson County faces either an enhanced, moderate or high risk for severe weather. These risks are categorized as levels 3, 4 or 5 out of a possible 5, respectively.
Severe weather hazards including large hail of at least baseball-size, damaging wind gusts of 80 or more mph and tornadoes (few of which may be long-track and violent, the NWS warns) are possible, especially across upper parts of the Arkansas Delta.
“Flash flooding is also a major concern as these thunderstorms will be efficient rain producers and may proceed to lead to an overwhelming amount of rainfall falling in a short period of time,” the NWS reports.
FLOOD WATCH
The flood watch is for multiple locations in Arkansas including Jefferson, Arkansas, Bradley, Cleveland, Desha, Drew and Lincoln counties.
Winds ranging from 20-30 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph, are predicted for central, eastern, north central and southeast Arkansas.
“Gusty winds will blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result,” the NWS said. Jefferson County endured an outbreak of grass fires amid strong winds two weeks ago.
“Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for high profile vehicles. Use extra caution,” the NWS warned.
The NWS says excessive runoff is expected to result in the flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flash flooding that is “extensive, rare and at times catastrophic” is likely if rainfall totals are as forecast, the NWS adds.
“Flash flood water levels may reach areas that rare(ly) or have never flooded before in addition to the threat faced by low-lying areas,” the NWS predicted. “The potential for rare flash flooding may pose a significant threat to life and property.”
PINE BLUFF PREPARES
Residents of Pine Bluff are urged to shelter in place as the city does not own or operate storm or tornado shelters. The city passed along a forecast of “very large hail, damaging wind gusts, very likely tornadoes and extremely heavy rainfall” through Saturday night in a news release.
“Therefore we strongly encourage everyone to have a personal safety plan in place before severe weather arrives,” the city stated.
The city offered these safety tips:
- Identify a safe location in your home or workplace, away from windows.
- Have multiple ways to receive alerts, such as NOAA weather radios, emergency apps and local news.
- Prepare for power outages by charging devices and having flashlights, batteries and emergency supplies ready.
- Avoid flooded roads. “Turn around; don’t drown,” the city advised.
“As public safety is our top priority, we are working and in direct communication with the Director of Jefferson County Office of Emergency Management, as well as our directors and chiefs leading Pine Bluff first responders and essential workers,” Pine Bluff Mayor Vivian Flowers said. “We are doing everything we can to make sure Pine Bluff residents shelter in place and stay safe.”
SCHOOLS
Each of Jefferson County’s three school districts dismissed elementary students from class at 1 p.m. and secondary students at 1:30 p.m. in anticipation of the weather event. Neither district has made a statement about the status of classes for Thursday.
Southeast Arkansas College closed its campus at 2 p.m. and moved all classes to virtual instruction.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff had not postponed any classes due to the impending weather as of 2:43 p.m. Wednesday.