F3 tornado in Dallas County, Arkansas

Tornado January 21, 1999 · Dallas County, Arkansas

Rating

11.0 mi

Path length

500 yd

Path width

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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

A strong tornado was spawned in eastern Dallas County. The tornado tracked through mostly rural areas, but knocked down a lot of trees. An aerial survey confirmed that there was at least one forested area where almost every tree had been blown over in a swath almost a quarter mile wide. The tornado dissipated near the town of Bunn.

Began near Princeton (33.9200, -92.6300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5684583. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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