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F2 tornado in Independence County, Arkansas

Tornado January 21, 1999 · Independence County, Arkansas

F2
Rating
11.0 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width
1
Death
3
Injuries

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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 northern White County into southern Independence County...and affected the town of Pleasant Plains. Just south of town, a trailer was flipped over behind a hardware store and a barn was heavily damaged. In the area around Pleasant Plains...at least 25 homes, a couple of businesses and a church sustained at least some damage from this tornado and from a tornado about an hour and a half earlier. Extensive tree damage was also found. The tornado headed northeast and dissipated about 5 miles northeast of town not long after it crossed Highway 157.

Began near Pleasant Plains (35.5300, -91.6500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5685647. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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