The Stone County tornado moved into Izard County at Sylamore at 739 pm CDT. The tornado destroyed several cabins.
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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.
The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.
The Stone County tornado moved into Izard County at Sylamore at 739 pm CDT. The tornado destroyed several cabins. Luckily, the cabins were evacuated before the tornado arrived. Just east of the cabins, the tornado moved into a small subdivision where several homes were damaged and one destroyed. Two occupants in the destroyed home were thrown several hundred feet and killed. The storm continued to track northeastward along Highway 9, where isolated damage was noted. The tornado reached Melbourne around 800 pm CDT, damaging or destroying a number of homes and businesses. A Ford dealership was destroyed with a number of new cars totalled. A housing project and local community college were also damaged in Melbourne. The tornado continued northeast toward the town of Franklin and then lifted 3 miles southeast of Horseshoe Bend. Some downed trees were the only noted damage along the last few miles of the tornado's path. 30 people sustained minor injuries from the storm.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F3. However, some damage was consistant with an F4 rating. Initial estimates place the amount of damage at $5,000,000.
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:36 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado, Izard | 1996-04-14 | 54 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, Izard | 1996-04-14 | 50 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1996Warnings in Arkansas, April 1996
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: 5543482.