A tornado ripped through rural Boone County, damaging several buildings and residences at the Arkansas Baptist Boys Ranch and toppling trees throughout the area early Friday.
The National Weather Service in North Little Rock confirmed the twister and rated it as an EF1 with winds from 86 to 110 mph.
No one was injured, authorities said.
"When the boys began getting alerts on their phones about the storm, it was coming through," said David Perry, the executive director of Arkansas Baptist Children's Homes and Family Ministries, which manages the ranch.
The twister hit the area at about 12:45 a.m., he said. Children huddled in safe areas of their residences as the storm passed.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning for northern Boone County late Thursday. Three of the four homes where the boys live received severe damage to their roofs. Ceilings were peeled off and insulation was strewn about, Perry said.
Independence Hall, a building used to house guests, was destroyed, he said.
"Our hay barn is blown down the mountain," Perry said.
The ranch, located on 400 acres about 7 miles north of Harrison, is home to 27 boys ages 13 to 18 who have troubled home lives.
A Weather Service team from North Little Rock surveyed the storm damage Friday afternoon and said the twister touched down about 2.5 miles southwest of Burlington in northwest Boone County and traveled 6.9 miles, carving a 300-yard wide path.
It is the fourth confirmed tornado in the state this year, according to the Weather Service.
Winds also knocked a trailer off its foundation on Center Loop Road northeast of Harrison and shattered the windows of a house. About 500 Entergy Arkansas customers were without power Friday morning, the utility company's website said.
The storm formed as a cold front crossed the Missouri-Arkansas border Thursday night.
Elsewhere, golf ball-size hail fell near Cotter in Baxter County and quarter-size hail pelted Calico Rock, Pineville and Oxford, all in Izard County.
"There was a lot of unstable air sitting there," said National Weather Service meteorologist Tabitha Clarke of North Little Rock. "We saw evidence of rotation on Doppler radar."
Most of the northern tier of the state was under a tornado watch, meaning conditions were favorable for the formation of tornado-producing storms Thursday evening and Friday morning.
As the system passed through the state Friday, skies cleared by late afternoon but temperatures dropped.
Fayetteville's temperature was expected to dip to 33 degrees overnight before climbing back to the mid-60s today. Fort Smith's temperature was forecast to drop from 65 degrees Friday afternoon to 36 degrees by early this morning.
The National Weather Service in Tulsa issued a frost advisory for 11 counties in Northwest Arkansas from 3 a.m. to 10 a.m. today. The Weather Service advised residents to cover any outdoor plants or take them inside.
Perry said insurance adjusters were expected to tour the Arkansas Baptist Boys Ranch early today, and repair work should begin soon.
"We're ready to start," he said. "We've already had roofers fixing the holes, and Baptist congregations across the state have offered to help anyway they can."
He said the boys attended school Friday and were fed at a local church.
"It's Good Friday," Perry said of the holiday. "We were blessed no one was injured. When I got the call at 2 a.m., the first words I heard were 'Everybody's OK.'
"That's the best words I've heard all day."
State Desk on 04/04/2015