F3 tornado — Perry County, Arkansas

F3 tornado in Perry County, Arkansas

Tornado November 27, 2005 · Perry County, Arkansas

Rating

21.0 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

$4.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Perry County → Conway County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A strong tornado touched down over southern Perry County. Winds were estimated at 160 mph. The tornado initially tracked through the Ouachita National Forest where hundreds of trees were either snapped off or blown down. Once emerging from the forest area, the tornado downed eleven large steel towers on a 500 kilovolt power line. As the tornado continued tracking to the northeast, a sawmill was destroyed, along with several houses. Several dozen other houses sustained damage and several mobile homes were overturned. Numerous vehicles were damaged or destroyed, as well as a number of barns and outbuildings. Several chicken houses also sustained damage. Numerous trees and power lines were also downed. The tornado eventually moved into Conway County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5484131. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Perry County, Arkansas

What the National Weather Service wrote

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