Severe Storms, June 12th, Franklin Co, AR

[poppafred]

Released today by NWS Tulsa:

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ON JUNE 12TH...A SURVEY TEAM INVESTIGATED SOME OF THE DAMAGE FROM THE SEVERE STORMS THAT MOVED THROUGH THE REGION DURING THE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS...SPECIFICALLY TWO AREAS OF POSSIBLE TORNADIC DAMAGE. THE FIRST AREA ASSESSED WAS NORTHEAST OF PRYOR OK WHERE NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND SEVERAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED. THE SECOND AREA WAS NORTH OF OZARK AR WHERE NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED...POLES WERE DOWNED...AND HOMES WERE DAMAGED. THE DEBRIS PATTERN IN NEITHER AREA WAS CONSISTENT WITH TORNADO DAMAGE. THE DAMAGE DID SUGGEST THAT THE WIND PRODUCED BY THE STORMS WAS LIKELY IN THE 80 TO 90 MPH RANGE AT TIMES.
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Summary:

The initial phase was simple storm spotting activity. The gust front moving through Charleston, AR at 1:33pm and had a measured gust of 50 mph. However, as the gust front passed through northwest Franklin Co, the NWS Tulsa advised of "heavy rotation" north of Ozark, AR in the Watalula Fire District. As the storm moved through, the Franklin Co Sheriff's Dispatchers office suffered what appears to have been a lightning strike. Dispatchers were heard to comment that there was smoke coming from their console. Later, the lead deputy directed all traffic to Mutual Aid Ch 3 on AWIN. The Ozark Fire Dept also brought out and set up a portable repeater to get the SO back on the air. County personnel and volunteer firefighters worked well into the evening assessing storm damage and checking for victims.

Although there were several areas of damage, no injuries were reported in Franklin Co.

It was a busy afternoon.