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F4 tornado in Stone County, Arkansas

Tornado April 14, 1996 · Stone County, Arkansas

F4
Rating
44.0 mi
Whole path
880 yd
Path width
7
Deaths
35
Injuries
$7.5M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 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 first touched down 4 miles northwest of Fox. It moved northeastward, passing south of Timbo, where some homes were damaged or destroyed and a number of trees were blown down. The tornado continued moving northeastward, causing some spotty damage through much of the county until the storm was 3.5 miles southwest of Allison. There, a house was completely destroyed and the first fatality occurred at approximately 730 pm CDT. The tornado then moved into Allison at around 738 pm CDT, damaging a resort area and destroying a bathhouse. The storm then struck a campground near the resort. As the tornado moved through the campground area, trees were downed on recreational vehicles, and several camping trailers were either overturned or tossed into a nearby creek. Four people were killed at the campground. The tornado exited Stone County at 739 pm CDT. Five people also sustained minor injuries.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F3. However, some structural damage was consistant with an F4 rating. Initial estimates place the amount of damage at around $2,500,000.

Began near Fox (35.8200, -92.3500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5543481. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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