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F3 tornado in Sevier County, Arkansas

Tornado May 4, 1999 · Sevier County, Arkansas

Rating

50.2 mi

Whole path

25 yd

Path width

Injuries

$125.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Red River County, Texas → Bowie County, Texas → Little River County → Sevier County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 25 yards (0.01 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Damage path consisted of a few small trees and twigs broken. The tornado rating in the county was only an F0 but the overall intensity was F3 in Bowie County, TX.

Began near Falls Chapel (33.7800, -94.2300).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5695174. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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