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F1 tornado in Lawrence County, Arkansas

Tornado March 5, 1996 · Lawrence County, Arkansas

Rating

46.5 mi

Whole path

40 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.6M

Damage as recorded

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

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 40 yards (0.02 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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.

The wider storm

The tornado crossed into Lawrence County from Sharp County along Highway 115 moving east northeast. A farm 2.5 miles south of Smithville sustained heavy damage with 8 barns and other buildings destroyed. A home had roof and window damage at the same location. Numerous trees were uprooted or blown over. The tornado continued northeast and passed just south of Smithville. Barns and outbuildings were damaged/destroyed near Denton. Trees were blown down along Highway 117 east of Denton.

Began near Jesup (36.0300, -91.3500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5540929. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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