The Tornado(s) that tracked through Atkins and Mountain home may have been one long-lived tornado that recycled to various strengths along a pathway stretching well over 100 miles! Damage was evaluated today by Quick Response team member, Alan Gerrard, who is also the Meteorologist in charge of the NWS office in Jackson. He was joined by John Robinson, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist and Renee Fair, the Meteorologist in charge, both from the NWS office of Little Rock. The communities of Atkins, Clinton, Mountain View and Highland AR were viewed today. Subsequently, the initial rating of EF3 damage attributed to the tornado has now been upgraded to EF4 damage. The EF4 category of the "Enhanced Fujita" damage scale correlates with wind speeds of 168-199 mph!

An aerial flight of the path is scheduled for tomorrow. This will hopefully confirm whether one or several tornadoes were responsible for the damage.