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F1 tornado in Pope County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Pope County, Arkansas

Rating

17.5 mi

Whole path

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$5.6M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Pope County → Conway County → Van Buren County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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 touched down approximately 1 mile south of Oak Grove and traveled northeastward. Much of the damage was mostly done to trees. However, a wood pallet plant and a chicken house were destroyed. A couple of homes also sustained roof damage. The tornado exited Pope County around 338 pm CST.

Began near Oak Grove (35.3300, -92.9500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5592929. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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