User:TBKS1/Tornado outbreak of January 3, 1949

Warren, Arkansas tornado
This was almost certainly a tornado family. The origin point isn't exactly clear, but it's believed to have been part of the same supercell that also produced the F3 tornado north of El Dorado, which caused two fatalities there. It may have also continuously had a tornado on the ground all the way back when it started north of Shreveport, Louisiana, but there's no way to fully determine it.

The tornado significantly gained strength shortly before entering Warren at around 5:45 PM CST. A violent tornado was heading right for downtown, and just started to enter the city from the southwest. Extreme damage occurred to many buildings in the city of Warren, such as houses, businesses (especially in downtown), and heavy damage to a sawmill. Extensive ground scouring also occurred in the city, which can be seen very clearly in aerial photos of the tornado damage. The tornado dissipated north of Wilmar shortly after it struck Warren.

By the time the tornado passed, 55 people were dead in Warren, with an additional 435 significantly injured. The population of Warren was about 2,600 people at the time. Makeshift hospitals were created in Warren shortly after the tornado hit to assist the significantly injured, while some of the survivors were also taken to hospitals in neighboring cities (such as Monticello and Pine Bluff). Almost all of the dead were taken to a single funeral home that wasn't affected by the tornado, completely overflowing the morgue with over 45 bodies. Power lines were down, and gas leaks were everywhere, leading to several fires breaking out in the city. The tornado caused about $1.3 million in damages (1949 USD), which is close to $18 million in 2021 USD.

This wouldn't be the last violent tornado to hit Warren. Another F4 tornado directly hit Warren on March 28th, 1975 killing seven people.

Records and statistics
The Warren tornado is often regarded as the deadliest tornado in Arkansas history. With 55 fatalities, it's tied with the 1898 Fort Smith tornado as the deadliest single tornado in Arkansas. The 1898 Fort Smith tornado occurred on January 11th of that year, which also makes it tied with the same tornado as the deadliest single tornadoes recorded in the month of January. Five fatalities tied to different tornadoes also occurred on the same day, which makes it the deadliest tornado outbreak ever recorded in the month of January with 60 fatalities in total, beating the previous record of 56 fatalities from the January 11, 1898 tornado outbreak (55 of those being from the Fort Smith tornado itself). It was the deadliest tornado recorded in the United States since the 1947 Glazier-Higgins-Woodward tornadoes, which killed 181 people. The next tornado to record over 50 fatalities occurred on May 11, 1953 when an F5 tornado hit Waco, Texas, which caused 114 fatalities.

It was the fifth deadliest tornado recorded in the 1940s, between the Northern Mississippi F4 tornado (63 deaths), and an F4 tornado that struck Pryor, Oklahoma on April 27, 1942, which caused 52 deaths.