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F3 tornado in Clark County, Arkansas

Tornado March 5, 1999 · Clark County, Arkansas

F3
Rating
23.0 mi
Whole path
400 yd
Path width
$2.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 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 produced in eastern Pike County moved into western Clark County. The tornado hit the town of Alpine and caused extensive tree and property damage. More than two dozen homes and almost a dozen mobile homes were heavily damaged or destroyed. In nearby Amity, a high school basketball game was cancelled when a Tornado Warning was issued. The tornado continued east of Alpine into a forested area and downed numerous trees. Just south of the tornado, yet another tornado was spawned with both tornadoes causing over 2 million dollars in tree damage across Clark County. The second tornado tracked across much of eastern Clark County. The first tornado was on the ground for about 13 miles before dissipating.

Began near Amity (34.2300, -93.5000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5693157. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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