Tornado, Lawrence
- When
- March 5, 8:45 PM CST to 9:05 PM CST
- Where
- Lawrence County, Jesup to 2 mi E of Denton
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 11 mi
- Path width
- 40 yd
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 36.030, -91.350
Tornado in Arkansas, March 5, 1996
The tornado crossed into Lawrence County from Sharp County along Highway 115 moving east northeast. 5 miles south of Smithville sustained heavy damage with 8 barns and other buildings destroyed.
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
- $100,000
- 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.
The tornado crossed into Lawrence County from Sharp County along Highway 115 moving east northeast. A farm 2.5 miles south of Smithville sustained heavy damage with 8 barns and other buildings destroyed. A home had roof and window damage at the same location. Numerous trees were uprooted or blown over. The tornado continued northeast and passed just south of Smithville. Barns and outbuildings were damaged/destroyed near Denton. Trees were blown down along Highway 117 east of Denton.
The radar
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:43 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
- Tornado in Arkansas, March 5, 1996
- Tornado in Arkansas, March 5, 1996
- Tornado in Mississippi, March 5, 1996
- Hail in Mississippi, March 5, 1996
- Tornado in Arkansas, March 5, 1996
- Tornado in Missouri, March 5, 1996
- Tornado in Missouri, March 5, 1996
- High Wind in Utah, March 5 to 6, 1996
- Winter Storm in New York, March 5, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 5, 1996
- Hail in Missouri, March 5, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Utah, March 5 to 6, 1996
More
Every storm in Arkansas in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1996Warnings in Arkansas, March 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: 5540929.