Image courtesy of National Weather Service
March ended up with its share of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, and a few proved to be deadly. There was also a number of wildfires as last month proved to be abnormally dry compared to March’s average. No daily records were broken during the month.
On the night March 14, three tornadoes either went through or were near the listening area. The first was an EF3 storm resulting in three fatalities. According to the National Weather Service, it started at 8:34 near Gamaliel, just west of Arkansas Highway 101, and damaged the community’s post office and fire station. It went across the state line caused damage and deaths in the southeastern portion of Bakersfield before it lifted along U.S. Highway 160 nearly 7 miles east of West Plains. The total tornado path length was 35.74 miles.
The next tornado began at 9:16 and had a higher rating of EF4. It started in the Stone County town of Fifty-Six, traveled through portions of Izard County and ended in Sharp County, nearly 6 miles east of Ash Flat. No deaths were reported from the tornado that traveled a total of 45.9 miles.
The other tornado was just outside of the Twin Lakes Area, notably destroying much of Cave City and leading to three fatalities in the Independence County town of Cushman. It was an EF3 storm beginning at 10:16, nearly 2 miles south of Cushman, and traveling through portions of Sharp, Lawrence, Randolph and Clay counties before it ended nearly 5 miles north of Corning. The tornado’s length was 81.77 miles, making it the longest tornado track in Arkansas since Feb. 5, 2008.
There were more severe thunderstorms this past Sunday, resulting in several rounds of heavy hail falling throughout the Twin Lakes Area. Dime-size hail was seen at KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot, the official reporting station for the National Weather Service in Mountain Home. Larger hail stones were seen elsewhere, causing damage around Viola and areas south of Yellville.
Despite those storms, March was overall a dry month, also leading to wildfires in the area. One of the most notable blazes began near the community of Squires. Douglas County Sheriff Chris Degase says a male was burning items in his yard, and embers flew across the road. Fire personnel extinguished the blaze, but over the next few days, it rekindled due to the high winds in the area, leading to the wildfires.
There were more fires in Baxter County, with one rekindling a few times near Midway. It started as a grass fire before it destroyed a structure on Shasta Trail. Another blaze started on Sheid Road in Norfork and went across Arkansas Highway 5 and traveled further north before fire personnel were able to contain it.
Multiple fires were also reported in Marion County. A mobile home was destroyed south of the Flippin bypass on County Road 7058, resulting in a fatality. Personnel had to battle other blazes south of Yellville and in the Lakeway community.
The total rainfall for last month was 1.86 inches. That is 3.17 inches below March’s average of 5.03. The total precipitation for the first quarter of 2025 was 8.76 inches. That is 2.83 inches below the period’s average of 11.59.
The warmest temperature recorded last month was 85 degrees on March 12, and the coolest was 28 on March 6. The average high for March was 68, and the average low was 40.8.
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