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F4 tornado in Hot Spring County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Hot Spring County, Arkansas

F4
Rating
51.0 mi
Whole path
528 yd
Path width
6
Deaths
111
Injuries
$122.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 528 yards (0.30 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 Clark County tornado moved into Hot Spring County 4.5 miles south of Friendship at 247 pm CST. The tornado damaged or destroyed a number of homes and other buildings in Donaldson as it moved northeastward. The tornado passed just to the south and east of Malvern. However, some damage was noted at the Malvern Airport. The tornado downed many more trees and power lines, as well as a number of buildings before it lifted about 6.5 miles east of Malvern.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F2 and F3. However, some structural damage in the Donaldson area was consistent with an F4 rating.

Began near Friendship (34.1500, -93.0000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5592921. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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