National Weather Service
In 2022, Mother Nature flipped the switch from a quiet and humid
evening to a wild night spawning five different tornadoes in less
than fifteen minutes between 7:57 p.m. to 8:10 p.m.
These five tornadoes ranged in strength from EF-0 to EF-3. Two EF-0 tornadoes occurred in Hillsboro and Lehigh. Two EF-1 tornadoes occurred in Durham and Tampa and the most powerful, EF-3 occurred in Andover.
The Andover, EF-3 tornado, was not only the most powerful
that evening, but also the most destructive and one of the most
photographed and filmed tornadoes in history. The destructive
twister first touched down 4 miles east of McConnell Air Force Base
as an EF-1 tearing up roofs along the way. As it moved into Butler
County, it increased in strength to an EF-2 and began removing roofs
from businesses and residences as the twister then turned north
toward Andover. By the time the twister reached highway 54 in
Andover, the twister had grown into a powerful EF-3 tornado and was
now destroying homes and businesses.
At the Andover YMCA, cars were thrown from the parking lot into the lobby. The powerful twister continued on to the north through multiple neighborhoods before finally lifting off the ground 1 mile southeast of Benton.
The Andover EF-3 tornado was rated to have 155 mph winds a width of 440 yards and, a 13-mile-long path. More than 1,000 structures were damaged, of which approximately 400 were destroyed. Fortunately, no one perished in this tornado or any other tornado that occurred that evening. There were only three injuries.
. . .
In 1989, powerful severe thunderstorms raked east and northeast Texas,
Arkansas and Louisiana with huge hail and damaging winds. The largest
hail, which reached the size of softballs, pummeled Palestine, Texas.
The extent of damage was not reported. Tennis ball-sized hail caused
around $10 million damage in Pine Bluff, Ark.