F4 tornado — Saline County, Arkansas

F4 tornado in Saline County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Saline County, Arkansas

Rating

25.0 mi

Whole path

1,408 yd

Path width

Deaths

220

Injuries

$75.0M

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,408 yards (0.80 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The thunderstorm that produced the tornado across Clark and Hot Spring County earlier spawned another tornado in Saline County. The tornado touched down 5 miles southeast of Benton and traveled northeastward, damaging a number of homes and downing numerous trees and power lines. As the tornado approached Shannon Hills, the tornado expanded to 0.8 mile wide. Dozens of homes were either damaged or destroyed in the area around the Shannon Hills, Vimy Ridge and Sardis communities. 10 people were killed, with most victims inside their homes when the storm hit.The tornado exhibited characteristics of F2 to F3 strength prior to moving into the Shannon Hills area. After that, the tornado reached F4 intensity as it moved across the Shannon Hills area and eventually into Pulaski County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5592927. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F4 tornado in Saline County, Arkansas

What the National Weather Service wrote

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