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F1 tornado in Jefferson County, Arkansas

Tornado January 21, 1999 · Jefferson County, Arkansas

Rating

30.0 mi

Whole path

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Jefferson County → Jefferson County → Lonoke 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

A weak tornado was spawned in northeast Jefferson County...or just southeast of a dissipating tornado that moved toward Tucker from the White Hall area. The tornado tracked just southeast of Tucker and near the Arkansas State Penitentiary. A few homes on the penitentiary grounds were damaged...with mostly roof damage noted. Farther north and east, the tornado blew down some trees before moving into southern Lonoke County.

Began near Tucker (34.4200, -91.9500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5684594. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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