A survey began Tuesday morning after storms left a trail of damage in northeast Arkansas on Monday, the National Weather Service said.
The storm survey in Greene County will assess whether damage near Paragould and Marmaduke was the result of tornadoes, according to Phil Baker, a meteorologist with the agency’s Memphis office.
Baker said the timing for results will depend on how many parts of the county are ultimately assessed. He estimated completion by around 4 p.m.
According to preliminary Storm Prediction Center data, a suspected tornado was reported around 10:25 p.m. near Walcott, which is about 16 miles north of Jonesboro.
A second, brief tornado is believed to have touched down around 11 p.m. near the intersection of Arkansas 34 and Greene County Road 806, which is about 5 miles east of Marmaduke, another report states.
Baker said that while the reports have not been confirmed, it’s likely that the two sightings in rural parts of northeast Arkansas will be corroborated.
“We did see some pictures on social media that appeared to be tornadoes,” he said.
A grain hauler truck and mobile home were reported overturned about three miles east-northeast of Crowley’s Ridge Street. Several trees were also said to have been downed.
Tornadoes are rare this time of year in the South because the typical summertime climate makes the northern U.S. more susceptible to such spin-ups, Baker said.
“We don’t typically see those low pressure systems this time of year,” the meteorologist said, noting that Arkansas is typically in a “large ridge of high pressure.”
Over the past 10 years, only one tornado has been recorded in Arkansas during August, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That twister, an EF-0 that hit Aug. 31, 2017, had estimated winds of up to 75 mph south of Helena-West Helena, said Chris Buonanno, science and operations officer with the weather service's North Little Rock office.
Eighteen tornadoes have been reported in Arkansas during the month since the weather service began collecting data in 1950, Buonanno said.
Monday’s storms also damaged an elementary school roof in Brinkley and ripped the tin roof off a shed in Crossett, reports show. In Conway County, a survey determined that thunderstorm winds downed trees and damaged a mobile home south of the Arthur community.