Mayflower, AR Tornadic supercell: April 27th, 2014

Around 7 p.m. on April 27th, I began to notice a storm developing rotation to the southwest of Mayflower. I headed down I-40 and just as I got to Mayflower, I saw a distinct debris ball signature on radar and knew that a destructive tornado was quickly approaching. As I began to see inflow and the tornado, I quickly turned around and got out of there. I left Mayflower only 3-4 minutes before EF-3 and EF-4 damage was reported.
Click here for a map to see specific times and locations:
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[@RaychillsAdventures]

i live in maumelle which is about 7 miles from mayflower. i remember the sirens going off and it being eerily quiet and calm, but could see the clouds turning. that was the closest i’ve been to a tornado until back in march when it hit little rock.

[@ConnecticutToyLady]

OMG thats so scary. I was in Mayflower and Vilonia with the red cross and it was so sad seeing everything destroyed. But one thing I learned was the people of Mayflower and Vilonia are STRONG people. I pray for them that they will get through all of this...and I know they will!!!

[@slartybartfast7419]

I lived just between Mayflower and Conway and was calling this storm before Greg Dee. Something about its look on radar when it was right outside of Hot Springs just didn't sit right with me. As soon as we got to our safe place the storm went warned and to this day my husband tells me that I saved our lives...it's a day that is hard for all of us to forget and I find myself looking at these videos every once in a while to remind me how strong of a community we became after so much devastation.

[@kenziiefaith]

it’s so crazy watching this 8 years later and living 15 minutes from here. i go to a bakery in Mayflower frequently that’s at the building around 2:51 & it’s just the cutest small town. makes me sad to see this! i hope we never have to deal with this type of destruction. i live on the top floor of our apartment complex currently and it’s my biggest fear to get hit by a tornado.

[@peterk5561]

Personally I think the EF4 rating was mistaken. One home was torn from the ground, foundation and all. There was literally nothing left but a hole in the ground. If this tornado achieved EF5 intensity, no matter how briefly, then that's the official rating, since tornadoes are rated based on their peak strength.

[@scotthayes4135]

He sees that jet black wall cloud approaching and is thinking "I'd better get the hell out of here!"

[@dundeedell1960]

Me, I would have pulled into the first open business and sought shelter there. Street lights out, can't see a darn thing while driving.

[@Bley_12]

You were like "I am heading my ass back to Conway". i was no to far from where u going to at the beginning at The River Plantation. My girlfriends house was like 7 houses down from where there were houses leveled, it was sad an elderly couple whos house was the 1st house near the entrance got leveled and she was killed and they were even in their safe house... that was one crazy night i will never forget. Thank you for the footage.

[@scotthayes5933]

I was thinking what if that tornado had formed farther north, Conway would have be hit. The damage would have been far worse. A tornado like that would have completely destroyed the UCA campus.

[@MyFatherLoves]

Amazingly, the sirens aren't blaring in this video.

[@k5mudslinger1]

I used to go to church there my best frinds grandma lives just up the road we 3 were there for 2 weeks helping clean up it looked like a war zone

[@joshuameeks6114]

sad thing was we got rain from that same storm system two days after Arkansas and Mississippi got hit by tornadoes.

[@catonawavewave]

I’m in central and couldn’t sleep that night of the storm,my friend had also moved there like a year or months before it hit.

[@supertornadogun1690]

That lightning is insane

[@scotthayes4135]

5:50 That traffic light went dead, not good!

[@tysongolden6907]

The wonders of storm chasing in arkansas, Can't-See-Shit.

[@ethanmaxton1930]

a tip : watch movies on Flixzone. Me and my gf have been using it for watching a lot of movies during the lockdown.

[@cyrusnoe6709]

@Ethan Maxton Yup, I've been watching on flixzone for months myself =)

[@nerblebun]

The title says Mayflower TORNADO, I see someone driving around in the rain for 15 minutes.

[@maumelleweather5195]

@Judy G. Rather difficult to see a tornado when it in the process of becoming rain wrapped which the Mayflower/Vilonia 1/4 mile wide wedge was doing during this time. Quincy most likely saw the tornado coming across the river, headed in his direction. He did the most sensible and safest thing one can do, which is drive the other direction. By the time it reached the location he was parked at, it was invisible in the rain.

[@passiontwisted]

​@@maumelleweather5195 Fair enough explanation, but the title is very misleading, which I think is the gripe here. Of course nobody expects a person to risk their life to get a video just to satisfy youtube viewers, but when you DON'T, don't use clickbait titles trying to lure in viewers. Especially in a long-form (for youtube) video. This was 15 minutes of basically nothing, as far as viewer experience relative to what the title advertised. Probably why it's by far the most-viewed video on this channel.

[@joshuameeks6114]

The tornado was rain wrapped

[@scotthayes5933]

The tornado was surrounded by heavy rain, it couldn't be seen. You could hear to roar of the wind however as it was coming.

[@nerblebun]

@@scotthayes5933: Yes, it was a Rain Wrapped tornado. I was merely commenting on the video shown.

[@shelbythomas]

This striking meditation on the futility of action in the face of abject cosmic oblivion recalls such spiritually devastating works as Waiting For Godot and Crime And Punishment. Vagell's video treatment of the increasingly fractured human condition is at once thrilling--quite literally full of sound and fury--and, intriguingly, vacuous-. That it so comprehensively signifies nothing is how it is able to resonate like few other works, including far more ambitious ones. Then he gets stuck in a really shallow ditch.

[@edenvillekulla6886]

LMFAO!!

[@vertblip]

Most hilarious comment ever.

[@scotthayes5933]

Why aren't the construction barrels flying around?

[@donnareisinger8163]

Think about it. No bad snowstorms for years and we were shocked this year. After Covid, protesting, horrific elections, hurricanes battering the Gulf states and all the other terrible things in 2020, does anyone, like me, ponder the thought that a major tornado season this year ?

[@markevcul]

My wife and I are in this with the flashers on at 11:32

[@edwin3928ohd]

i was thinking "why are people pulled over!! get out of there. so now i get to ask you directly... why were you pulled over? :)

[@AliceLovesMusic2003]

David Holcomb the advice for safety from a tornado when you’re out used to be to get under an overpass/bridge.

[@Og-Judy]

@@AliceLovesMusic2003 this was 2014. Been saying NOT to seek underpass sincec1999 Moore OK people died. Getting out of hail is one thing. Tornado warned area is another. I turn to local channel driving through stormy weather. Warnings will pop up on it..

[@nakirium-yt]

@@AliceLovesMusic2003 And now that everyone knows about the Venturi effect, the mets tell everyone NOT to hide under overpasses during a tornado.

[@nakirium-yt]

Y'all almost got smacked by Quincy too. It's a good thing he jerked the wheel to the left at the last second.

[@jamesbanks201]

Thank

[@scotthayes4135]

I can't see the tornado.

[@aungoo9700]

It's rain wrapped.

[@13_cmi]

Nobody could. And it was insanely powerful even for a tornado. That’s why these things are so dangerous. You can never see them and never know how strong they might be.

[@scotthayes4135]

@@aungoo9700 I can see the wall cloud however, that's one sign that a tornado is coming. And that cloud was jet black.

[@andreaberryman5354]

Really nice night drive on the highway, thank you. Eerily searching for an elusive beast...sorry the cop got you stuck. Not nice.☹

[@daltonparson6992]

I love in Betancourt Conway in des arc scarily nigt

[@ChicagoMidwestStormChasers]

Why would you turn around. go see if people were ok or not? like wtf

[@megascopsenjoyer]

lol

[@brandonjvl1987]

Nothing like driving in circles, he got off the interstate at exit 135 for hwy 89 at the beginning of video, turned around get back on the interstate, and then turned around again and got back off on the same exit towards the end of the video.

[@interstate3551]

Eh, they're Arkansas residents. Who gives a fuck...

[@chasebaker4870]

@@interstate3551 tf?

[@allen480]

@@interstate3551 Been 2 years, have you matured yet?

[@angelessilvaarenas7942]

Ahora llegò telecomunicaciones

[@rodrigoaguilera7293]

OMG I live in Bryant Arkansas 😯😯🙁🙁

[@Padarius38]

OMFG did you survive?

[@Brwskie]

Omg, you can obviously see he is a child, be nice.

[@stevemcdonald4400]

Vagell..dang what a name..i bet the kids called you Vagsmell growing up

[@racecraftgaming5103]

I lived in between conway I was in church lights went out and we babtized 3 people in the dark

[@angelessilvaarenas7942]

Tornado wayflower domingo lunes al las hrs 7:27 you did casas en lástima

[@joshuameeks6114]

sad thing was we got rain from that same storm system two days after Arkansas and Mississippi got hit by tornadoes.