Remembering the April 3rd 2008 Sherwood Tornado

Today is the 3 year anniversary of the April 3rd, 2008 EF2 tornado that struck parts of the city of Sherwood. This was just one of several tornadoes that occurred that night. I was in Winston-Salem NC and was tracking the severe weather on radar when I noticed rotation developing near Burns Park in NLR. I called my wife who had just returned from my daughter's basketball practice in WLR and told her to watch this storm. About that time a tornado warning was issued and as my wife was taking cover with my daughter I could hear debris hitting the house. She was telling me the house was shaking and then the phone went dead. It was 20 minutes before I could contact her and she informed me everyone was safe but the house was damaged. I could hear sirens in the background as emergency responders we coming into the area. I was thankful that she was not hurt and I told her I would be there in the morning.

I took the first flight back and when I got home I was amazed at the damage that was done. The tornado went right through the middle of the neighborhood. Most of the damage was on the north and west side of the tornado and homes that were higher in elevation took most of the hit. My house sits about 100ft lower than those at the top of the hill. It suffered roof and tree damage and I lost my entire fence but escaped the brunt of the tornado's fury. Houses at the top of the hill had the roofs taken off. I was amazed that my deck was still standing and believe it or not a pair of Channel 7 Daybreak flip-flops didn't even move off the deck.

In talking to witnesses...it appeared the funnel wasn't at ground level near my house but was as you got closer to the top of the hill. The subdivision is in a little valley. The storm continued on through the neighborhood then down the hill and traveled NE towards Gravel Ridge.

Below is the track of the tornado from start to finish (supplied from the Little Rock NWS).

Track started in NLR and ended near Gravel Ridge

Track crosses right over my house (left side of cul de sac). Most damage was on the west and north side.

NWS surveyed the area and determined the tornado was an EF2 storm.

Here are some pictures taken the day after the tornado hit. If I had been there during the storm you can bet I would have video on here to show you the tornado coming in.

The tornado did damage at the NLR airport and the Sherwood Baseball Fields before hitting our neighborhood. It came close to the NWS office at the airport (they had to take cover).

It took us a while but we all pulled together and put the pieces back together. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love living in Arkansas because of the people. We had so much help from people we didn't even know that came in and helped us clean up and for that I will always be grateful. This could have been much worse but because the residents of Hidden Creek heard the warnings and took cover, no one was hurt.

 

Monday's Severe Weather Chances

April 2nd 2011

All eyes are on the mid south as a powerful storm system and cold front come knocking on our door. Earlier in the week it appeared that the system would spawn an outbreak of severe weather including severe thunderstorms, hail, heavy rains and tornadoes. All the variables were coming into play according to the computer models. The timing was right (late afternoon frontal passage)and the chasers were getting excited.

Looking at this morning's data it appears that we will most likely have some severe weather but the timing of the frontal system is coming in much faster. In fact it appears the front may pass through the LR area on Monday morning. This would lead me to believe that late Sunday into early Monday we might see the main severe weather threat. With this threat there is still the possibility of supercells and tornadoes so we will have to watch this as nighttime are especially dangerous since so many people are sleeping.  The threat will then shift to West Tenn and Northern Mississippi by afternoon, but this could change if the frontal system slows down.

The 06z run of the GFS  has the front east of AR by afternoon

The SPC (Storm Prediction Center) has placed parts of Arkansas under a "SLIGHT RISK" of severe weather for Sunday (probably later in the evening through the overnight) and then a large part of the state on Monday. The main threat looks to be damaging winds at this point with the line of thunderstorms BUT a few tornadoes cannot be ruled out.

This is the outlook for Sunday. The outlooks shows the greatest chance in Northern Arkansas later in the evening.

This is the outlook for Monday. The greatest threat has shifted to the central and eastern part of the state.

I will monitor the situation on Sunday and decide if I will go out on Sunday night or Monday.

Looking ahead, it appears the warm weather is finally here to stay. It will cool down a bit after this next frontal passage and I would not rule out some frost in parts of the north Tuesday or Wednesday morning but as we move further into April that risk will diminish rapidly. After last week's gloomy weather, I'm ready for some heat.

I'll keep watching the situation for Monday and update as needed. I think we're looking at a more active April/May severe weather wise. Interesting that John Robinson at the LR NWS reported not a single tornado was reported in March in Arkansas. Considering our severe weather season is March/April/May that's a good thing for those who don't like it.

Take advantage of this great weekend and get out and make a memory.

Ninja