Arkansas, 1996

Tornado in Arkansas, April 14, 1996

April 14, 1996 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The tornado first touched down 4 miles northwest of Fox. It moved northeastward, passing south of Timbo, where some homes were damaged or destroyed and a number of trees were blown down.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
5
Injuries
5
Property damage
$2.5 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.

The tornado first touched down 4 miles northwest of Fox. It moved northeastward, passing south of Timbo, where some homes were damaged or destroyed and a number of trees were blown down. The tornado continued moving northeastward, causing some spotty damage through much of the county until the storm was 3.5 miles southwest of Allison. There, a house was completely destroyed and the first fatality occurred at approximately 730 pm CDT. The tornado then moved into Allison at around 738 pm CDT, damaging a resort area and destroying a bathhouse. The storm then struck a campground near the resort. As the tornado moved through the campground area, trees were downed on recreational vehicles, and several camping trailers were either overturned or tossed into a nearby creek. Four people were killed at the campground. The tornado exited Stone County at 739 pm CDT. Five people also sustained minor injuries.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F3. However, some structural damage was consistant with an F4 rating. Initial estimates place the amount of damage at around $2,500,000.

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 110 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:07 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Stone

When
April 14, 6:10 PM CST to 6:39 PM CST
Where
Stone County, Fox to 4 mi of Allison
Rating
F4
Path length
16 mi
Path width
880 yd
Deaths
5 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
5 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$2.5 million
Coordinates
35.820, -92.350

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Tornado, Stone1996-04-1471MaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Stone1996-04-1464FemaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Stone1996-04-1465MaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Stone1996-04-1465FemaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Stone1996-04-1453FemalePermanent HomeDirect

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Arkansas in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1996Warnings in Arkansas, April 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5543481.