Home / Arkansas / Cross

F3 tornado in Cross County, Arkansas

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Cross County, Arkansas

Rating

4.0 mi

Whole path

200 yd

Path width

$755K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Cross County → Poinsett 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 the northwest corner of Cross county from Woodruff county. Sixty-seven homes and businesses were damaged including an elementary school in the town of Hickory Ridge. A Southwestern Bell main switching station was destroyed. The tornado continued into the southwest corner of Poinsett county where it knocked down a few trees.

Began near Hickory Ridge (35.3800, -91.0200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5595260. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.