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F3 tornado in Columbia County, Arkansas

Tornado May 4, 1999 · Columbia County, Arkansas

Rating

9.0 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

$600K

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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

Two frame homes were demolished, several frame homes suffered roof damage, 1 church and 3 businesses suffered roof and frame damage. Many trees were snapped and uprooted. Damage estimates includes timber damage.

Began near Magnolia (33.2500, -93.2200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5696249. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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