1898 Fort Smith tornadoes

Severe weather event in the United States May 2025 February 2025 Fort Smith, Arkansas 1898 tornado damage.jpg Destroyed homes in Fort Smith January 11, 1898 ≥5 F4 1898 ≥$453,000 (≥$ in US USD)All losses are in 1898 USD unless otherwise noted. note Losses 56 118 Arkansas, Missouri, and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) tornadoes and tornado outbreaks of 1898 On January 11, 1898, a series of tornadoes affected the U.S. states of Arkansas and Missouri, as well as the Indian Territory, presently Oklahoma. At least five in all, these included the Fort Smith tornado, which struck the city of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Retroactively rated a violent (F4) tornado on the modern-day Fujita scale,The Fujita scale was devised under the aegis of scientist T. Theodore Fujita in the early 1970s. Prior to the advent of the scale in 1971, tornadoes in the United States were officially unrated.Grazulis 1993 141Grazulis 2001a 131 Tornado ratings were retroactively applied to events prior to the formal adoption of the F-scale by the National Weather Service.Edwards et al. 2013 641–642 While the Fujita scale has been superseded by the Enhanced Fujita scale in the U.S. since February 1, 2007,Edwards Roger Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/ef-scale.html The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC) Storm Prediction Center February 25, 2016 March 5, 2015 Canada used the old scale until April 1, 2013;Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF-Scale) https://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=41E875DA-1 Environment and Climate Change Canada Environment and Climate Change Canada February 25, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160303220706/http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=41E875DA-1 March 3, 2016 June 6, 2013 dead nations elsewhere, like the United Kingdom, apply other classifications such as the TORRO scale.The International Tornado Intensity Scale http://www.torro.org.uk/tscale.php Tornado and Storm Research Organisation Tornado and Storm Research Organisation February 25, 2016 https://web.archive.org/web/20160305120332/http://www.torro.org.uk/tscale.php March 5, 2016 2016 dead note Fujita it was part of a tornado family that formed 60 mi km on on to the southwest,Multiple sources: O'Donnell 1898a 7 O'Donnell 1898b 19 and struck the city around midnight, killing 55 people and injuring 113. The twister nearly destroyed the newly constructed Fort Smith High School that had opened in fall 1897. Other tornadoes were reported that night in Arkansas and Missouri. The Fort Smith tornado is tied with one that struck Warren in 1949, also rated F4, for the deadliest tornado to strike Arkansas.Grazulis 1993 681–682, 941Grazulis Thomas P. Grazulis Doris http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm The Most "Important" US Tornadoes by State 26 April 2000 2 May 2024 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035740/http://www.tornadoproject.com/alltorns/worstts.htm 4 March 2016 The Tornado Project of Environmental Films St. Johnsbury, Vermont Confirmed tornadoes ≥5 1 ? ? 3 0 1 0 no Prior to 1990, there is a likely undercount of tornadoes, particularly F0–1, with reports of weaker tornadoes becoming more common as population increased. A sharp increase in the annual average F0–1 count by approximately 200 tornadoes was noted upon the implementation of NEXRAD Doppler weather radar in 1990–1991.Agee and Childs 2014 1496Historically, the number of tornadoes globally and in the United States was and is likely underrepresented: research by Grazulis on annual tornado activity suggests that, as of 2001, only 53% of yearly U.S. tornadoes were officially recorded. Documentation of tornadoes outside the United States was historically less exhaustive, owing to the lack of monitors in many nations and, in some cases, to internal political controls on public information.Grazulis 2001a 251–4 Most countries only recorded tornadoes that produced severe damage or loss of life.Edwards Roger The Online Tornado FAQ (by Roger Edwards, SPC) http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/#Climatology Storm Prediction Center: Frequently Asked Questions about Tornadoes Storm Prediction Center February 25, 2016 March 5, 2015 Significant low biases in U.S. tornado counts likely occurred through the early 1990s, when advanced NEXRAD was first installed and the National Weather Service began comprehensively verifying tornado occurrences.Cook Schaefer 2008 3135 note Count 1974 marked the first year where significant tornado (F2+) counts became homogenous with contemporary values, attributed to the consistent implementation of Fujita scale assessments.Agee and Childs 2014 1497, 1503note Fujita + List of confirmed tornadoes – Tuesday, January 11, 1898All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time and dates are split at midnight CST/CDT for consistency. note Date/TimeF#LocationCounty / ParishStateTime (UTC)Path lengthWidthThe listed width values are primarily the average/mean width of the tornadoes, with those having known maximum widths denoted by ♯. From 1952 to 1994, reports largely list mean width whereas contemporary years list maximum width.Agee and Childs 2014 1494 Values provided by Grazulis are the average width, with estimates being rounded down (i.e. 0.5 mi km on is rounded down from 880 yards to 800 yards).Brooks 2004 310Grazulis 1990 ix note WidthDamage F2W of FayettevilleWashingtonArkansas04:00–?A two-story home was wrecked, injuring a person.Grazulis 1993 681 F2BradleyvilleTaneyMissouri05:00–?5 mi km on on300 yd m on on3,000 $1 death – Homes were wrecked, with five injuries. One of the injured died weeks later.Grazulis 1993 681Henry 1898 9 F4Western Fort Smith to E of Van BurenSebastian, CrawfordArkansas05:15–?10 mi km on on200 yd m on on450,000 $55 deaths – See section on this tornado – 113 people were injured. F2S of Alma to NW of OzarkCrawford, FranklinArkansas05:30–?15 mi km on on200 yd m on onFour homes lost roofs, and several barns were wrecked. Outbuildings were damaged as well.Douglass 1898Grazulis 1993 682 FUNear Sans BoisChoctaw NationIndian TerritoryThis, the first member of the Fort Smith family, formed over the Sans Bois Mountains.Grazulis 1993 682 Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith, Arkansas January 11, 1898, 11:15 p.m. CST (UTC−06:00) atl F4 55 113 $450,000 ($ in US USD) Part of a long-lived tornado family, this event may have first damaged trees near the Arkansas River in Oklahoma, beginning near Cache Creek. Intermittent damage to vegetation continued past the Poteau River. The tornado was confirmable at the Fort Smith National Cemetery, where it leveled a 1 mi km mid -long, 5 ft m mid -high stretch of masonry, downed trees, and severely damaged a lodge. Farther on, it extensively damaged a schoolhouse. The tornado then tracked into the business district of Fort Smith, causing scores of fatalities. "Dozens" of businesses and residences were flattened, some homesites being left bare. At city hall, 40 large trees, up to 50 ft m on tall, were felled, and an iron flagstaff, embedded in granite and fastened by 1 in mm mid -thick guy wires, was pulled out, the wires being snapped. A 500 ft m mid -long brick wall, 1 ft m on thick and 4 + 1/2 ft m on tall, was leveled. A three-story brick building was moved off its foundation, and 30 homes in town, mostly frame, were destroyed, along with a quartet of churches. 130 other homes of similar composition were damaged. An iron beam, driven into a brick wall, could not be dislodged, clothing was found 30 mi km on away, and signage from Fort Smith was carried 22 mi km on. Initial reports indicated that 33 people died instantly, while 18 later succumbed of injury. Of the 113 injuries, 44 were severe, 73 minor. Final tabulations totaled 55 dead and 113 injured, including three dead near Van Buren, where rural farmsteads were wrecked.Multiple sources: Grazulis 1984 A-16 Grazulis 1993 681–2 O'Donnell 1898a O'Donnell 1898b The Great Cyclone at Fort Smith https://www.fortsmithhistory.org/archive/July2007/Tornado1898text.html Fort Smith History Fort Smith Historical Society 5 May 2024 Fort Smith, Arkansas July 2007 Thrash-Lick 1898 Notes note References 2 Sources Ernest M. Agee Samuel Childs Adjustments in Tornado Counts, F-Scale Intensity, and Path Width for Assessing Significant Tornado Destruction Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology June 1, 2014 53 6 1494–1505 10.1175/JAMC-D-13-0235.1 American Meteorological Society free 2014JApMC..53.1494A Agee and Childs 2014 Brooks Harold E. Harold E. Brooks On the Relationship of Tornado Path Length and Width to Intensity Weather and Forecasting April 2004 19 2 310–19 10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0310:OTROTP>2.0.CO;2 free 2004WtFor..19..310B Cook A. R. Schaefer J. T. The Relation of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) to Winter Tornado Outbreaks Monthly Weather Review August 2008 136 8 3121–3137 10.1175/2007MWR2171.1 free 2008MWRv..136.3121C Clarke F. H. Douglass J. K. P. Arkansas section January 1898 The tornado near Alma, Crawford County, January 11, 1898 Climatological Data 3 1 7 Alma, Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/IPS/cd/cd.html National Centers for Environmental Information Roger Edwards James G. LaDue John T. Ferree Kevin Scharfenberg Chris Maier William L. Coulbourne Tornado Intensity Estimation: Past, Present, and Future Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society May 1, 2013 94 5 641–653 10.1175/BAMS-D-11-00006.1 free American Meteorological Society 2013BAMS...94..641E Edwards et al. 2013 Henry A. J. January 1898 The weather of the month Monthly Weather Review 26 1 5–9 Washington, D.C. 10.1175/1520-0493(1898)26[5:TWOTM]2.0.CO;2 free American Meteorological Society Grazulis Thomas P. Thomas P. Grazulis May 1984 Violent Tornado Climatography, 1880–1982 NUREG CR-3670 OSTI Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 7099491 free Grazulis Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1880–1989 November 1990 The Tornado Project of Environmental Films St. Johnsbury, Vermont 1-879362-02-3 2 1 Grazulis Thomas P. Thomas P. Grazulis Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. A Chronology and Analysis of Events The Tornado Project of Environmental Films July 1993 St. Johnsbury, VT 1-879362-03-1 1 Grazulis Thomas P. The Tornado: Nature's Ultimate Windstorm https://archive.org/details/tornadonaturesul0000graz registration 2001a University of Oklahoma Press Norman 978-0-8061-3538-0 1 Grazulis Thomas P. F5-F6 Tornadoes The Tornado Project of Environmental Films 2001b St. Johnsbury, Vermont 1 Clarke F. H. O'Donnell J. J. Arkansas section January 1898 February 21, 1898 Report of the Ft. Smith tornado Jan. 11–12, 1898 Climatological Data 3 1 5–8 Fort Smith, Arkansas Little Rock, Arkansas https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/IPS/cd/cd.html National Centers for Environmental Information O'Donnell 1898a O'Donnell J. J. January 1898 February 21, 1898 The tornado of January 12, at Fort Smith, Ark. Monthly Weather Review 26 1 Fort Smith, Arkansas Washington, D.C. 10.1175/1520-0493(1898)26[18:TTOJAF]2.0.CO;2 free 18–9 1 O'Donnell 1898b Photographic views of the cyclone at Fort Smith, Arkansas, Tuesday night, January 11, 1898 January 1898 Thrash-Lick Printing Company Fort Smith, Arkansas https://archive.org/details/photographicview00fort/ 23367074M Internet Archive Thrash-Lick 1898 Category:1898 in Arkansas Category:Fort Smith, Arkansas 1898-01-11 1898-01-11 Category:Meteorological events in 1898 Category:1898 natural disasters in the United States Category:January 1898 in the United States 1898-01-11