TornadoLookup

Home / Arkansas / St. Francis

F2 tornado in St. Francis County, Arkansas

Tornado January 21, 1999 · St. Francis County, Arkansas

F2
Rating
36.0 mi
Whole path
200 yd
Path width
9
Injuries
$500K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Monroe County → St. Francis 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 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado moved into the extreme southwest corner of St. Francis county from Monroe county. It touched down several times and then lifted back into the air. The most severe damage occurred in and near Wheatley. Thirteen homes were completely demolished and six other homes sustained structural damage. Further along its path, the tornado hit a farm about 4.5 miles northeast of Wheatley. The farmhouse lost part of its roof. Two or three machine sheds were demolished, several other outbuildings were damaged, grain storage bins were flatted and blown several hundreds of feet away and irrigation equipment suffered extensive damage.

Began near Wheatley (34.8800, -91.1000).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

19 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F4 Clay CountyF3 Lawrence CountyF2 Clay CountyF1 Greene CountyF1 Clay CountyF0 Cross CountyF0 Clay CountyF0 Lee CountyF0 St. Francis CountyF0 Lawrence CountyF0 St. Francis CountyF0 Lawrence CountyF0 Greene CountyF0 Craighead CountyF0 Craighead CountyF0 Craighead CountyF0 Craighead CountyF0 Craighead CountyF0 Mississippi County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5685666. 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.