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F1 tornado in Lonoke County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Lonoke County, Arkansas

Rating

16.0 mi

Whole path

50 yd

Path width

Injuries

$60K

Damage as recorded

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

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 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

An F1 tornado down about 5.5 miles northwest of Cabot on Highway 5 and traveled northeastward. The tornado was small at first, downing only a few trees. About 2 miles later, along Highway 319, the tornado damaged the roofs of some buildings, knocked down some power poles and snapped some trees. The tornado exited Lonoke County about 6 miles northwest of Austin at 239 pm CST.

Began near Cabot (35.0200, -92.0800).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5592922. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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