Feb 26, 2006Article posted in its entirety
It's Severe Weather Awareness Week, and Jim Burns, director of Clark County's Office of Emergency Management, wants to help residents of the county prepare for possible storms.
Preparedness is the key to survival in severe weather, he said. Severe weather is not limited to tornadoes. "Ice storms, strong thunderstorms, flooding, wind storms, these are all severe weather."
He reminds residents to check batteries in NOAA weather radios and flashlights in case of power outages. It's also a good idea to check supplies in storm shelters or safe rooms and make sure there is enough food and water for the family.
Burns said his office has a few NOAA weather radios that can be provided free of charge to daycare and senior citizen centers. For more information on severe weather preparedness, contact him at 246-0013.
In an average year, Arkansas has 21 confirmed tornadoes, according to data from the National Weather Service in Little Rock. Most of those tornadoes occur in March, April and May. However, 2005 was a most unusual year, Burns said.
In 2005, only four tornadoes had been reported in the state through the end of May. But 40 more tornadoes were seen during the rest of the year, including 15 that were spawned in August by Hurricane Rita, according to the National Weather Service. However, the most tornadoes ever verified in one day occurred on Nov. 27, 2005, when 31 tornadoes were spotted in Arkansas. Two of those storms were rated F3, which means they included winds of more than 150 mph. One of the tornadoes hit Conway County near Plumerville, causing one fatality.
Two more tornadoes occurred in December, bringing the total to 52 for the year, according to statistics from the National Weather Service in Little Rock.
Also unusual was the path of the storms, Burns said.
Typically, tornadoes in Arkansas travel along the "I-30/U.S. 67/167 corridor," Burns said. That is, tornadoes travel southwest to northeast, or diagonally, across the state.
The path is supported by geographic data, he said. "Tornadoes take the path of least resistance," he said. By traveling along the foothills of Arkansas' mountain ranges, the tornadoes skip across the state in the lower-lying areas.
Last year, tornadoes struck areas that often don't see such storms, in Yell Conway, Cleburne, Fulton and Sharp counties.
No one knows why that happened. "The National Weather Service has no explanation for it," Burns said. "I wouldn't blame it on anything but the providence of God."
