A powerful storm system moved through the middle of the country Thursday, injuring at least 10 people in Arkansas, authorities said.
Storm spotters in Montgomery, Clark, Garland and Polk counties reported seeing several tornadoes. The National Weather Service in North Little Rock will send a survey team to examine the areas today, meteorologist Christ Buonanno said.
“We’ve not confirmed them yet, but we are very confident there were several tornadoes in the state,” he said.
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., had warned that there was a moderate risk of severe weather Thursday, with storms also possible in the central United States from Texas to Wisconsin. Flooding is also a concern in parts of Missouri, Iowa and Illinois through Sunday.
In addition to possible tornadoes, rain and hail fell.
“Right now we’ve been getting a few thunderstorms, but they’re very severe supercell thunderstorms,” said Michael Scotten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “The whole storm rotates, and they produce on occasion some tornadoes and heavy hail.”
In Arkansas, the storms formed quickly Thursday afternoon as a small frontal boundary entered the western edge of the state from Oklahoma and collidedwith warm air.
“It was more subtle than what we see when storms form in the early spring,” Buonanno said. “It was not as large, but it quickly formed supercells.”
The weather service issued several tornado warnings Thursday afternoon and evening in western Arkansas, as well as in Oklahoma. But Buonanno said thepotential for tornadic weather decreased as temperatures dropped during the evening.
At the height of the storms, two people were seriously injured in Rogers when they were struck by lightning, said Tommy Jackson, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
A woman who was 8 months pregnant and four children were also injured when a storm damaged their mobile home in Amity in northwest Clark County, Sheriff Jason Watson said. The woman and children were treated and released at Baptist Health Medical Center in Arkadelphia, Watson said.
Deputies reported seeing a possible tornado on the ground near Arkansas 182, and three other structures were damaged, Watson said. Another Clark County resident received a concussion, Jackson said.
An elderly woman was also injured when a possible tornado struck her home in Oden about 3 p.m., said Brandy Wingfield, a spokesman for the Montgomery County sheriff’s office. Several homes in the small town were damaged, and power lines were blown down, she said.
The AP reported that the severe weather also led organizers to postpone the start of the outdoor Wakarusa Music Festival near Ozark, which featured Widespread Panic, The Black Crowes and the rapper Snoop Lion, who was formerly known as SnoopDogg. An estimated 15,000 people sought shelter from lightning and wind Thursday, according to the Times Record newspaper in Fort Smith.
In Lawrence County, high winds toppled trees, and amotorist was injured when his car struck a downed tree on U.S. 63 in Ravenden, Jackson said.
In Polk County, storms damaged homes in Wickes, Cove and Hatfield along U.S. 71, a spokesman said.
Spotters also reported seeing a funnel cloud over Lake Ouachita in Garland County. Lt. James “Corky” Martin of the Garland County sheriff’s office said trees were blown down in the Brady Mountain Cutoff area west of Hot Springs.
Jackson said areas along Arkansas 298 in Garland County, along with Owl Creek Road and Nubbin Ridge saw downed trees and power lines.
Entergy Arkansas, the state’s largest electric utility, reported power had been knocked out to about 3,200 customers in Garland County and about 1,800 customers in Montgomery and Stone counties. A report on the utility company’s website said it expected power to be restored by late Thursday evening.
Earlier Thursday, the National Weather Service reported at least two likely tornadoes on the ground near Perkins and Ripley in north central Oklahoma.
Perkins Emergency Management Director Travis Majors said there were no injuries or damage there. Ripley, about 10 miles eastof Perkins, did not seem to have significant damage, but Payne County’s emergency management director did not immediately return an Associated Press phone call seeking comment.
This spring’s tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keeping funnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months.
Thursday’s storm was much less destructive than the EF5 tornado that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20, killing killed 24 along its 17-mile path.
The United States averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year, but top-of-the-scale storms like the one in Moore - with winds over 200 mph - happen only about once per year.
The tornado last week was the nation’s first EF5 since 2011. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been struck the most, seven times each. More than half of these top-of-thescale twisters have occurred in just five states: Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Strong winds blew through Moore, in suburban Oklahoma City, on Thursday, but the weather didn’t cause significant problems for crews cleaning up from last week’s tornado.
Information for this article was contributed by Kenneth Heard of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and Jeannie Nuss and Seth Borenstein of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 05/31/2013