National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Event Summary

The tornado initially touched down 2 miles southeast of Mize and moved northeast through the Sylvarena community. The tornado then moved into Jasper County at 12:44 am 2 miles north of the Ted community. It continued across the northwest corner of Jasper County through Bienville National Forest and crossed into Newton County four miles northwest of Baxter at 1:03 am. The tornado lifted on the southern city limits of Newton at 1:14 am.

This was an extremely large and intense tornado that fortunately moved through mainly uninhabited areas. In Smith County, 15 people were injured within Sylvarena. Over 90 homes were destroyed and 1 large church was demolished. Within Jasper County, 3 houses and 4 mobile homes were destroyed and 21 houses and 2 mobile homes were damaged. In Newton County, 6 homes were damaged, 1 mobile home was destroyed, and 1 commercial building was destroyed. Timber loss was well into the millions of dollars, mainly through the Bienville National Forest.