Arkansas, 1999

Tornado in Arkansas, January 21, 1999

January 21, 1999 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong tornado was spawned in southern Independence County. The tornado formed as another tornado was dissipating about a mile northwest.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
3
Property damage
None recorded
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.

A strong tornado was spawned in southern Independence County. The tornado formed as another tornado was dissipating about a mile northwest. This new tornado formed about 5 miles southwest of Oil Trough. As the tornado moved northeast, it destroyed a home and a shed along Highway 157 and damaged other homes nearby. Extensive tree damage was also found in the area. From there, the tornado tracked within a mile of Oil Trough...and caused some roof damage to a home just west of the intersection of Highways 14 and 157. In Oil Trough, a trailer was heavily damaged and a cable antenna on top of a water tower was bent. Farther northeast, a barn was damaged at the intersection of Highways 122 and 69. The tornado moved about a mile east of Newark and destroyed some transmission towers near a power plant. The tornado continued through eastern Independence County...causing mostly tree damage. The tornado finally dissipated just southeast of the town of Cord.

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Independence

When
January 21, 4:55 PM CST to 5:22 PM CST
Where
Independence County, Oil Trough to 7 mi SE of Cord
Rating
F2
Path length
20 mi
Path width
500 yd
Injuries
3 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
35.570, -91.550

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 1999Every state in 1999This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1999Warnings in Arkansas, January 1999

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: 5684591.