New Year’s Eve tornado slams northwest Arkansas, killing three

Friday, December 31, 2010

Washington County, Arkansas, where the tornado touched down

Three are dead after a tornado hit Cincinnati, a small town in Arkansas, about three miles from Oklahoma’s border. Around 6:00 local time, on Friday, the system, fed by warm winter air, caused several injuries, damaging the power grid.

Josh Howerton, the county’s sheriff’s dispatcher, stated that the storm touched down near the town’s center. "Lots of injuries" were reported. A tornado warning for Cincinnati and nearby towns was issued by the Tulsa weather center nine minutes before the storm struck.

"Any time you have a significant change in air mass there is going to be unsettled weather marking the two different air masses," said Joe Sellers, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Oklahoma.

Sources