F3 tornado, Melbourne to Calamine, Arkansas, March 5, 1996

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F3

Date

March 5, 1996

Touchdown

7:45 PM CST (01:45 UTC)

Path length

46.5 miles (74.8 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$2.6 million

Counties

Izard, Sharp and Lawrence counties

Touchdown point

36.000, -92.000

Lift-off point

36.080, -91.150

Record number

54

The tornado first touched down 7 miles southwest of Melbourne. It moved east-northeastward, passing near the small community of Lunerburg, where it damaged and destroyed some homes and other structures. The tornado continued moving east-northeastward and hit the town of Mount Pleasant. A number of homes, mobile homes and other buildings were either damaged or destroyed. 2 people in Mount Pleasant sustained minor injuries. Numerous trees and power lines were also blown down along the tornado's path. The tornado exited Izard County about 3 1/2 miles northeast of Mount Pleasant at 815 pm.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F2. However, some structural damage was consistent with an F3 rating. Initial estimates place the amount of damage at around $1,000,000.An assessment of structural and other damage in Izard County revealed:17 homes damaged; 5 completely destroyed13 mobile homes damaged; 6 completely destroyed24 outbuildings damaged; 10 completely destroyed10 barns damaged; 6 completely destroyed3 chicken houses destroyed2 to 3 head of cattle killed

The Izard County tornado moved into Sharp County 2 3/4 miles west-southwest of Sidney at 815 pm. The tornado moved eastward and a few minutes later it struck the town of Sidney. 20 homes in Sidney were either damaged or destroyed. The tornado traveled along Highway 58, damaging more homes, barns, and other outbuildings. The tornado then began moving more in a northeasterly direction toward the Calamine community. Several more homes and other buildings were damaged. The tornado exited Sharp County about 2 3/4 miles east-northeast of Calamine around 845 pm. Numerous trees and power lines were also blown down along the tornado's path.Much of the damage was consistent with an F2 rating, with some damage noted as F3 in intensity. Preliminary estimates place the amount of damage at around $1,500,000.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

3 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:42 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:38 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 148 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1996 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.