Arkansas, 1996

Tornado in Arkansas, January 18, 1996

January 18, 1996 · NWS MEG · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Substantial wind damage occurred southwest of Lepanto. Several homes were damaged as were some storage sheds and outbuildings.

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
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
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 MEG wrote it up.

Substantial wind damage occurred southwest of Lepanto. Several homes were damaged as were some storage sheds and outbuildings. A mobile home was overturned. An awning was destroyed. Numerous trees and power lines were downed.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Poinsett

When
January 18, 7:40 AM CST to 7:45 AM CST
Where
Poinsett County, Lepanto to 3 mi SW of Lepanto
Rating
F0
Path length
2 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$50,000
Coordinates
35.580, -90.370

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, January 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: 5539014.