May 10-11, 2015: Severe Weather in the ArkLaTex

A strong storm system brought multiple rounds of severe weather to the ArkLaTex beginning during the morning of Sunday, May 10, 2015, and continuing into the morning hours of Monday, May 11. The worst of the severe weather occurred Sunday evening and early Monday morning.

During the morning, a complex of thunderstorms moved from North Texas into Northeast Texas and Southeast Oklahoma. Very little severe weather was produced with this first round of thunderstorms. The main round of severe weather began early Sunday evening. One supercell in particular led to several reports of a funnel cloud from north of Horatio in Sevier County, AR, to De Queen, to the northwest corner of Howard County, AR, west of Umpire. No tornado was found with this storm in the ArkLaTex.

Additional thunderstorms continued to develop. Another supercell with strong rotation developed a few hours later between Ashdown, AR, and Texarkana. Rotation continued to develop with this storm as it moved north-northeast. This storm produced an EF2 tornado in Nashville. The most significant damage occurred in the D&J Mobile Home Park on the southwest side of Nashville. Five mobile homes were completely destroyed. Two people were killed in this mobile home park and eight other people were injured.

At the same time, another supercell developed farther south in Harrison and Cass Counties in East Texas. This storm eventually produced two EF0 tornadoes in Marion and Cass Counties between Jefferson and Linden. Damage with these two tornadoes consisted mainly of snapped and uprooted trees.

Most of the thunderstorms eventually congealed into a large quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), sometimes called a squall line. This line of storms would sweep eastward through East Texas, Southern Arkansas, and Northern Louisiana through the mid-morning hours of Monday. Although the line would weaken as it moved into Southern Arkansas and Northern Louisiana, it was much stronger when it initially developed farther west. Surveys teams from the National Weather Service in Shreveport found straight-line wind damage between Millwood Lake and Hope, AR. Estimated peak wind speeds in this area were between 80-90mph. Additional straight-line wind damage was found in northern and northeastern Bowie County, TX, particularly near the Red River Army Depot and northeast of Maud.

If the tornadoes and wind damage weren't enough, these storms also produced very heavy rainfall and flash flooding across much of Southeast Oklahoma, Southwest Arkansas, and portions of Northeast and East Texas. Many of these areas had already experienced heavy rainfall and flash flooding over the previous few days. Some roads were impassable due to high water in Texarkana, New Boston, and Maud. Some of the worst flooding was reported in Harrison County, TX, particularly in and around Marshall.

Damage survey crews were deployed in the days following the storms from the National Weather Service in Shreveport to investigate the various reports of possible tornado damage. The details of the surveys can be found in the table and the damage map below. The survey information should be considered preliminary and subject to change.

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 6