National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

...STORM DAMAGE SURVEY IN CLAIBORNE PARISH IN NORTHERN LOUISIANA AND UNION COUNTY IN SOUTHERN ARKANSAS...

Click here to see a radar loop and a map of the tornado paths.

 ...TORNADO IN UNION COUNTY ARKANSAS RATED AS AN F3 STORM...

THURSDAY...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PERSONNEL FROM THE SHREVEPORT
WEATHER FORECAST OFFICE CONDUCTED A STORM SURVEY OF THE TORNADO
THAT MOVED THROUGH UNION COUNTY ARKANSAS WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

A NEARLY CONTINUOUS PATH OF DAMAGE WAS NOTED FROM WHERE THE TORNADO
ENTERED THE COUNTY IN THE TOWN OF JUNCTION CITY ON THE STATE LINE
WITH LOUISIANA UNTIL IT ENDED 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE COMMUNITY OF
LAWSON IN THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY. THE STORM LEFT A TRAIL
OF THOUSANDS OF DOWNED AND BROKEN TREES ALONG WITH NUMEROUS HOMES
AND OTHER STRUCTURES HEAVILY DAMAGED OR COMPLETELY DESTROYED ALONG
ITS 24 MILE TRACK ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE COUNTY.

THE STORM ALSO RESULTED IN TWO FATALITIES AND 13 PERSONS INJURED...
REQUIRING HOSPITALIZATION OR MEDICAL ATTENTION.  THERE WERE SEVERAL
OTHERS WITH MINOR SCRAPES...CUTS...AND BRUISES.

AFTER ENTERING THE COUNTY AT JUNCTION CITY...THE STORM GAINED
STRENGTH AS IT MOVED TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST...REACHING ITS
GREATEST INTENSITY IN RURAL AREAS SOME 8 MILES SOUTH OF EL DORADO.
AS IT MOVED THROUGH HOMES AND FARMS IN THE VICINITY OF TATUM ROAD
AND RUSHWOOD ROAD...THE PATH HAD SPREAD TO A WIDTH OF HALF MILE AND
REACHED AN INTENSITY OF F3...158 TO 206 MILES PER HOUR...ON THE
FUJITA INTENSITY SCALE.  THIS IS WHERE THE TWO FATALITIES OCCURRED
ALONG WITH THE MAJORITY OF THE INJURIES.

Major Damage on Tatum road near Junction City where one fatality occurred.

OTHER DAMAGE NOTED THROUGH THIS AREA OF GREATEST DESTRUCTION WERE
SEVERAL VEHICLES THROWN AND TOSSED AROUND...A SCHOOL BUS
OVERTURNED...AND AN AREA OF TREES THAT WERE LEVELED AS IF CLEAR CUT.

THE LAST TOWN IN THE PATH OF THE STORM WAS THE COMMUNITY OF LAWSON
WHERE A NUMBER OF HOMES WERE DAMAGED AND THE FIRE STATION HEAVILY
DAMAGED BY THE STORM.

The Fire Station that was heavily damaged by the storm in Lawson, Arkansas.

...RESULTS OF TORNADO SURVEY IN CLAIBORNE PARISH...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PERSONNEL CONDUCTED A STORM DAMAGE SURVEY 
OF THE STORMS WHICH MOVED THROUGH CLAIBORNE PARISH WEDNESDAY EVENING 
JANUARY 12TH.  THE TORNADO PATH IN CLAIBORNE PARISH WAS IN THE SOUTHWEST 
AND CENTRAL PARTS OF THE PARISH. 

THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN F2 ...113 TO 157 MPH. TWO TO THREE DOZEN 
HOMES WERE DAMAGED. A DOZEN INJURIES WERE REPORTED...ONE OF THE 
INJURIES WAS SERIOUS.

THE DAMAGE PATH BEGAN IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE PARISH JUST EAST 
OF THE LANGSTON COMMUNITY. TREES WERE BLOWN OVER AND SNAPPED OFF. 
THE TORNADO WAS RATED A LOW END F1 AT THIS LOCATION. 

THE TORNADO TRACK EXTENDED NORTHEAST ALONG HARRIS ROAD FOR ONE 
MILE WHERE A MOBILE HOME WAS DESTROYED. THE TORNADO WAS RATED A LOW 
END F2 AT THIS LOCATION. OTHER HOMES RECEIVED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE. 

THE TORNADO TRACKED NORTHEAST AND CAUSED MINOR TO MODERATE ROOF 
DAMAGE AT MORELAND RD AND SIMPSON LOOP. THIS LOCATION WAS 3 AND 
ONE-HALF MILES SOUTH OF HOMER. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN F1 AT THIS 
LOCATION.

Mobile Home destroyed south of Homer. A person in this home was seriously injured with 4 broken ribs and a punctured lung.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO THE NORTHEAST ONE MILE TO POWELL ROAD WHERE 
A MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED. OTHER MINOR ROOF DAMAGE TO A 
FEW HOMES OCCURRED AND NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF. THIS 
LOCATION WAS ONE AND ONE-HALF MILES SOUTH OF HOMER. THE TORNADO WAS 
RATED AN F2 AT THIS LOCATION.


THE TORNADO CONTINUED NORTHEAST PAST THE LOUISIANA HILL EXPERIMENT 
STATION WHERE TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF AND BLOWN DOWN. SEVERAL HOMES 
WERE DAMAGED ON THE SOUTH SIDE AND NORTH SIDE OF LAKE CLAIBORNE. TEN 
TO TWENTY HOMES WERE DAMAGED IN THIS AREA. ONE HOME HAD THE ROOF BLOWN 
OFF JUST SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT AND 4 HOMES WERE BLOWN APART ON THE 
NORTH SHORE OF LAKE CLAIBORNE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF AND 
BLOWN DOWN.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED ALONG ROUTE 2 FOR TWO AND ONE-HALF MILES WHERE 
TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND MINOR ROOF DAMAGE OCCURRED TO 3 HOMES. 
THIS LOCATION WAS 5 MILES EAST OF HOMER.

THE DAMAGE PATH VARIED FROM 50 TO 250 YARDS WIDE WITH THE WIDEST 
POINT NORTHEAST OF LANGSTON WHERE THE FIRST MOBILE HOME WAS 
DESTROYED ALONG HARRIS ROAD. THE OTHER WIDEST POINT OF THE DAMAGE 
PATH WAS ALONG THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE CLAIBORNE. THE TORNADO TRACK 
WAS 15 MILES LONG.

A home that received major damage near Lake Claiborne.