Ft. Smith and Van Buren, Arkansas, tornado of April 21, 1996.

On Sunday, April 21, 1996, a severe weather outbreak across the Southern Plains produced a number of supercell thunderstorms and tornadoes which developed in northwest Texas and southwest Oklahoma. This severe weather then tracked east northeast across much of south central and northeast Oklahoma and northwest Arkansas during the late afternoon and evening hours. This report, while providing a general overview of the severe weather event, focuses on the Fort Smith metropolitan area of northwest Arkansas, where a strong tornado caused extensive property damage, two fatalities, and more than forty injuries. The tornado was estimated to be approximately one-half-mile wide with a path length of approximately seven miles. The F3 tornado, as defined by the Fujita Tornado Intensity Scale, was estimated to have wind speeds of nearly 200 mph. At this intensity, roofs and walls were torn off well-constructed houses, train cars were overturned, and aotumobiles were lifted off the ground. The severe weather outbreak was forecast in advance. There were numerous watches, forecasts and warnings issued throughout the afternoon and evening of the event. These products alerted citizens throughout eastern Oklahoma and western Arkansas to the potential of severe weather including the threat of tornadoes prior to the actual tornado warning for the Ft. Smith and Van Buren areas. This, coupled with the responsiveness of the media and a generally aware public, without doubt, saved lives