F3 tornado — Sharp County, Arkansas

F3 tornado in Sharp County, Arkansas

Tornado March 5, 1996 · Sharp County, Arkansas

Rating

46.5 mi

Whole path

100 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.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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.

The wider storm

The Izard County tornado moved into Sharp County 2 3/4 miles west-southwest of Sidney at 815 pm. The tornado moved eastward and a few minutes later it struck the town of Sidney. 20 homes in Sidney were either damaged or destroyed. The tornado traveled along Highway 58, damaging more homes, barns, and other outbuildings. The tornado then began moving more in a northeasterly direction toward the Calamine community. Several more homes and other buildings were damaged. The tornado exited Sharp County about 2 3/4 miles east-northeast of Calamine around 845 pm. Numerous trees and power lines were also blown down along the tornado's path.Much of the damage was consistent with an F2 rating, with some damage noted as F3 in intensity. Preliminary estimates place the amount of damage at around $1,500,000.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5548864. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Sharp County, Arkansas

The wider storm

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