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F3 tornado in Jackson County, Arkansas

Tornado January 21, 1999 · Jackson County, Arkansas

Rating

31.0 mi

Whole path

700 yd

Path width

$10K

Damage as recorded

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

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 700 yards (0.40 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 moved from eastern Independence County into northwest Jackson County. The tornado headed mostly through rural areas and caused extensive tree damage as it tracked along the Black River. In some forested areas, there were hardly any trees left standing as seen from an aerial survey. The tornado continued northeast into southern Lawrence County (Memphis County Warning Area).

Began near Elgin (35.7200, -91.3300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5685642. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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