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F3 tornado in Greene County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Greene County, Arkansas

F3
Rating
25.0 mi
Whole path
200 yd
Path width
1
Death
9
Injuries
$1.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

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 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 tornado moved into extreme northwest Craighead county from Jackson county. While in Craighead county, the tornado damaged a house injuring 2 persons inside the structure. The tornado then moved into the southeast corner of Lawrence county. There it damaged 13 homes and buildings including a grain bin which stored a large supply of rice. One mobile home was rolled over injuring 2 persons. Numerous trees were blown down as well. The tornado moved into Greene county where it occasionally lifted off the ground as the storm moved northeast. The most severe damage occurred near Marmaduke where 20 homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed. One man was killed when his business was damaged by the tornado. Five others were injured.

Began near Fontaine (35.9800, -90.8300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5595259. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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