SPC Stats
Path length: 18 miles
Width: 233 yards
Fatalities: 2
Injuries: 53
Rating: F3
County: Saline, Pulaski
A total of 29 tornadoes pushed through four states on December 2, 1982. Nine twisters were in Arkansas, five of which were given an F3 rating. We look at one of those in this summary.
This tornado moved 18 miles through parts of Saline and Pulaski Counties. It developed near Bryant and moved through Alexander to West Little Rock to Crystal Hill. 86 mobile homes were destroyed/damaged in Saline County. There was one fatality at a mobile home in Alexander.
“The damage path expanded to about 10 blocks wide in West Little Rock with some areas of wind damage up to 20 blocks wide.” 100+ homes in West Little Rock had extensive damage. A man was killed on I-430. A piece of sheet metal was driven into his windshield. His wife was seriously injured. Approximately 600 buildings in Pulaski County and 150 in Saline County had some degree of damage. Details from the National Weather Service.
Tornado Path
SPC coordinates: Start: 34.58 / -92.47 End: 34.85 / -92.27
Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.
Videos
Newspaper Clippings
Discrepancies:
We gathered information for this event from the SPC & NCDC Databases, the December 1982 Storm Data Publication and Thomas Grazulis in Significant Tornadoes and found the following differences:
Width:
- SPC/NCDC have a 233 mile path length.
- Grazulis lists a width of 250 yards.
- Storm Data has a width of 700 yards.
Sources:
December 1982 Storm Data Publication
Grazulis, Thomas P. (1993). Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films. Page 1244.
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