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F3 tornado in Van Buren County, Arkansas

Tornado March 5, 1999 · Van Buren County, Arkansas

F3
Rating
15.5 mi
Whole path
350 yd
Path width

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 350 yards (0.20 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 was spawned in southern Van Buren County to the southeast of a dissipating tornado near Scotland. The former tornado moved through Culpepper and toward Choctaw, causing extensive property damage. Perhaps the worst damage was along County Road 6. In all, about a dozen houses and half a dozen mobile homes were heavily damaged or destroyed. There was also extensive tree damage. As the tornado moved northeast, it weakened by the time it reached Choctaw. Mostly roof damage was noted in town. The tornado was on the ground for 10 miles before dissipating.

Began near Scotland (35.4800, -92.6200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5693168. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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