REMEMBERING The Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak

     It was 8 years ago today that one of the single most DEADLIEST Tornado Outbreaks in history here in Arkansas. That day was the Infamous Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak. Now I get this question a lot, What is a Tornado Outbreak? What does that mean? Well a tornado outbreak is basically any day/night that there are multiple tornadoes in one particular region at one time. So lets say we have a system coming into Arkansas on a random day/night and there are tornadoes with the frontal boundary (squal line ), and there are tornadoes with random thunderstorms in other areas of the state, well That's a Tornado Outbreak! What was soo special about that particular tornado outbreak to me was the fact that it happened EARLY in the year when Temperatures are typically too cold for that type of weather, this happened when snow storms SHOULD HAVE BEEN happening. So most people were very surprised at this type of weather at that time of the year. Now there was warning, that particular day there was what us weather people call a " High Risk Day." High Risk days are basically days were there is a great deal of CONFIDENCE AND CERTAINTY that there WILL BE the development of Large Violent Tornadoes, and the possibility of loss of lives (Casualties). That's what a "High Risk Day" is. Then around Mid-Afternoon that day there was what's called a PDS Tornado Watch (Particularly Dangerous Situation) Tornado watch. PDS Watches are only issued once in every 2-3 years, that's just how rare they are. When a PDS goes out for any area, that means FEAR!!! That means You had better get ready to Lose your home because when a PDS is issued, IT'S SERIOUS! When they say PDS Tornado Watch STUFF JUST GOT REAL!! This is past talking, this is telling you about as blunt as it can get, THERE WILL BE HUGE TORNADOES and THERE WILL BE MASS CASUALTIES Expected. When a PDS goes out that's when everybody need to get Scared and go to Freaking out. I've been an active Storm Chaser since 2004, and even today PDS Watches where I live sends chills down my spine.... That day I went to the bathroom like 19 times before it even turned 12Noon.
     What Made Super Tuesday what it was??? Well that's a fairly Complicated Answer, but in short, Super Tuesday February 5th 2008 was Legendary because it was the Perfect Storm. Everything you look for to get Severe Weather and Tornadoes came together that day! ALL the Chips were in, all bets were off, it was going down that day! That was the day you just KNEW stuff was going to hit the fan, you could FEEL it in the air. Then to hear all the MAJOR HYPE on the News and all over TV, when you woke up that day and went outside, you knew past the hype that something was coming, YOU COULD FEEL IT!!!! That's what made that day so special!
     Super Tuesday of 2008 was the day Little Rock took nearly a DIRECT HIT by a Mid-sized Tornado. That was the day one of the strongest tornadoes in Arkansas History struck Atkins Arkansas. It was the Longest Tracked tornado in Arkansas History, the thing touched down and crossed MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, LAKES, TOWNS, FIELDS, ROADS, INTERSTATES, Everything and Traveled 100+ Consecutive Miles. It did not Lift or even WEAKEN!!! It was an EF-4 Tornado. Those types of Tornadoes only account for a Percent and a half (1.5%) of all Tornadoes in the State of Arkansas. We might have one every 4-5 years that's just how RARE they are, so it was an INCREDIBLE sight to watch unfold. I'm going to drop some pictures below of the track of the Tornado and a Photo of it.

 This Map is Courtesy of The National Weather Service here in North Little Rock.  Here's the track of the Tornado and how many people it killed along the way, It touched down south of Russleville, moved Very Near Russleville and hit Atkins on the other side of I-40 there, it took 5 people with it. Then it traveled over 100 miles from Central Arkansas all the way up to Northeast Arkansas where is dissipated.

Here's another map provided by the National Weather Service. This is the CAPE Map. CAPE stands for Convective Available Potential Energy. Basically CAPE is the measure of the amount of Twist, and Instability in the Atmosphere (Air). See CAPE was Incredibly high over Arkansas, Ladies and Gentleman what you see here is the perfect alignment of exterior and Interior factors gone VIOLENTLY WRONG, the Perfect Storm if you will. 

The Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak was definitely one for the Record Books, We've had days since Feb 5th 08 to rival the Super Tuesday outbreak, but I have yet to see a day that was as bad as that day. Can it Happen again? OF COURSE, it can and will at some point in the near or distant future, the question is Will You Be Ready?? 

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