Tornado, St. Francis
- When
- January 18, 7:20 AM CST to 7:25 AM CST
- Where
- St. Francis County, Hughes
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Coordinates
- 35.080, -90.770
Tornado in Arkansas, January 18, 1996
A tornado touched down in Hughes. The tornado damaged a service station destroying two service bays and sending some of the debris into a nearby pickup truck.
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
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.
A tornado touched down in Hughes. The tornado damaged a service station destroying two service bays and sending some of the debris into a nearby pickup truck. A lumber company lost its roof. Several outbuildings near the high school's football field were destroyed. Several other buildings including Hughes High School were damaged. Numerous trees and power lines were downed as well.
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:00 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Cold in Oklahoma, January 18 to 20, 1996
- Blizzard in Iowa, January 18, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Washington, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Cold in Wisconsin, January 18, 1996
- High Wind in Indiana, January 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Tornado in Missouri, January 18, 1996
- Flash Flood in Virginia, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Flash Flood in New York, January 18, 1996
- High Wind in Alabama, January 18 to 19, 1996
- Tornado in Kentucky, January 18, 1996
- Tornado in Arkansas, January 18, 1996
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: 5539015.