Tornadoes

Tornadoes—destructive, violently spinning vortices of air extending from high within severe thunderstorms to the surface of the earth—are more common in the United States than anywhere else on the planet. They are particularly prevalent in the area known as “Tornado Alley,” where the proper ingredients come together: a combination of warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico pulled northward by storm systems dragging strong continental cold air from Canada. While Arkansas is not normally included on maps of the infamous Tornado Alley, which is usually considered to stretch from north Texas northward through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska, the state has suffered many devastating tornado outbreaks.

In January 1999, Arkansas recorded the most tornadoes on any individual January day in any state (fifty-six on January 21, 1999); the most tornadoes in the month of January; and the largest single outbreak ever to strike the state. One deadly recent outbreak occurred on March 1, 1997, and resulted in twenty-five Arkansas fatalities. The deadliest outbreak in Arkansas history, however, occurred on March 21, 1952, when 112 people lost their lives. Bald Knob (White County) and Judsonia (White County) were the hardest hit, suffering over fifty fatalities. Cotton Plant (Woodruff County) also lost twenty-nine people in one of seventeen tornadoes that day, twelve of which were deadly.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, about 622 tornadoes in Arkansas killed thirty-nine people, injured approximately 540, and caused more than $650 million in damage. Notable tornadoes during this period include a historic February 5, 2008, strike in which an EF-4 tornado tore a 123-mile-long path through seven counties in north-central Arkansas, killing twelve, injuring at least 140, and damaging or destroying 880 homes and 100 businesses. This path set an Arkansas record for length; Clinton (Van Buren County) and Atkins (Pope County) were among those suffering severe damage, while a second, shorter tornado devastated the town of Gassville (Baxter County).

Other large outbreaks in the twenty-first century occurred on December 18, 2002, May 16, 2003, and November 27, 2005. And while hurricanes usually bring only heavy rain to the state, on September 24, 2005, the remnants of Hurricane Rita spawned seventeen tornadoes that moved from southeast to northwest—an unusual state of affairs. While the average Arkansas tornado is on the ground less than a mile, tornadoes in this outbreak reached path lengths of seventy-five and sixty-seven miles, with others of over twenty miles.

In April and May 2011, sixty-two tornadoes were reported, killing at least eleven people. On April 25 and 26, 2011, twenty-five tornadoes touched down, the most deadly of which struck Vilonia (Faulkner County) on April 25, killing four; this tornado had a path length of more than fifty miles. On May 25, 2011, a forty-seven-mile-path tornado tore through Johnson and Franklin counties.

The state’s fatality rates are also far higher than expected for a state with relatively low population density. From 1950 to 2006, the state ranked fourteenth in both number of tornadoes (1,407) and tornadoes per 1,000 square miles (26.6); it ranked second in the number of fatalities per 100,000 people (13.9), behind Mississippi (19.2). Counts from the Storm Prediction Center may not tell the entire Arkansas tornado story. Many researchers consider this tornado count far lower than the actual number due to Arkansas’s rural nature (low population densities) and conditions that make seeing and counting tornadoes difficult (hills, trees, and low cloud decks). If the number of tornadoes counted in more populated areas of the state were extrapolated across the entire area, Arkansas would likely be depicted on maps along with the more well-known Tornado Alley states. However, this method would not take into account local variations in topography that might account for increased or decreased tornado numbers. Interestingly, some of the same conditions that make counting difficult may also explain Arkansas’s relatively high fatality counts—geography or obstructions might prevent one seeing, and thus seeking shelter from, a tornado. Socioeconomic status may also play a role, especially in the past: lower incomes result in more manufactured homes or less sturdy housing stock, and lower overall educational level can affect understanding of climate cues or warnings. There are also fewer sturdy shelters, such as basements, in Arkansas. These indicators have steadily been improving in the state over the fifty-six-year period for which tornadoes are assessed here, but they are still counted by researchers as factors that increase vulnerability.

While April suffers the most tornadoes on average (291), late fall and winter tornadoes are not at all uncommon in Arkansas. The state also suffers many night tornadoes, in part due to early sunsets during the winter; this factor could also contribute to the state’s fatality rate. Tornadoes in Arkansas occur primarily between the hours of 5:00 and 6:00 p.m.

Tornado intensity has traditionally been measured according to the Fujita Scale (F-scale), which was based on damage to structures. It ranges from F0 (weak) to F5 (extreme). While this method is not a good measure of intensity, in that strong tornadoes may not hit a structure and variability in structure strength can produce wide variances in damage, it was, until the recent development of the Enhanced Fujita Scale, the only measure. As is the case across the country, the average Arkansas tornado since 1950 is very weak (F1.25); there has been only one recorded F5 tornado in the state, on April 10, 1929. Of the 336 fatalities in the state that occurred between 1950 and 2006, 211 took place in F4 tornadoes, of which there were only forty; only two fatalities took place in F0 and F1 tornadoes combined (962 total).

Death tolls since the advent of Weather Service tornado warnings in 1952 have been plummeting nationwide. In Arkansas, rates have generally declined (from sixty-eight fatalities per 100 tornadoes in the 1950s to only 6.3 fatalities per 100 tornadoes) but remain too high. As a comparison, Kansas saw about twenty fatalities per 100 tornadoes in the 1950s and only about two fatalities per 100 tornadoes in the 2000s. Each recent tornado, however, has brought about large expenditures for community sirens, and more recently, Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) monetary incentives to build tornado-proof safe rooms in homes. ADEM has also been key in supplying and stressing to the public the need for warning-activated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radios, while also vastly increasing weather radio coverage to rural areas using new transmitters.

The following chart lists those documented fatal tornado strikes that occurred in Arkansas. Other fatal tornadoes no doubt occurred and were not recognized as such, especially during the nineteenth century and earlier. This chart is a work in progress and will be amended as further information is uncovered.

Date	Counties Affected	Fatalities
February 17, 1871	Phillips	1
April 25, 1871	Sebastian	1
March 7, 1875	Drew	1
April 8, 1875	Lonoke	4
November 1879	Washington, Crawford	1
April 18–19, 1880	Sebastian, Franklin, Yell, Washington, Faulkner, White, Carroll, Crawford	10+
May 15, 1882	Benton	2
June 1882	Pike	4
August 2, 1882	Ouachita	1
April 5, 1883	Garland, Hot Spring	5
April 14, 1883	Franklin, Faulkner	3
November 20, 1883	Johnson, Franklin	4
November 21, 1883	Izard	11
October 2, 1884	Pulaski	4
November 16, 1892	Boone	2
April 1893	Scott	7
April 19, 1893	Cleburne	2
May 6, 1893	Ouachita, Howard	3
May 24, 1893	Independence	2
May 30, 1893	Lee, Phillips, St. Francis, Woodruff, Monroe	4
October 6, 1893	Union	5
March 19, 1894	Miller, Hempstead	5
October 3, 1894	Pulaski	4
January 2, 1897	Saline, Miller	2
March 31, 1897	Lincoln, Cleveland, Jackson	3
April 1, 1897	Lincoln	4
January 11, 1898	Sebastian, Crawford	55
March 18, 1899	Jefferson, Desha	1
October 31, 1900	Columbia	1
November 27, 1900	Monroe, Phillips, Lee	1
March 9, 1901	Little River, St. Francis, Greene, Faulkner, Mississippi	16
April 7, 1903	Cleburne, White, Jackson, Van Buren	10
February 5, 1904	Searcy, Baxter, Marion, Fulton	8
March 25, 1904	Greene, Newton, Marion	7
April 24, 1904	Jefferson	2
February 28, 1907	Hempstead	1
March 2, 1907	Hempstead	1
May 6, 1907	Hempstead	2
April 23, 1908	Little River, Pope, Montgomery	5
April 26, 1908	Sevier, Howard, Little River, Pope, Montgomery	5
April 26, 1908	Phillips	14
May 4, 1908	Prairie, White, Faulkner, Independence, Pulaski	10
November 24, 1908	Franklin, Johnson, Crawford, Garland, Sebastian, Carroll, Columbia, Lafayette, Polk	16
February 6, 1909	Lonoke, White, Phillips, Arkansas, Garland	2
February 24, 1909	Lonoke, Prairie, Woodruff, Poinsett	13
March 8, 1909	Monroe, Ouachita, Hot Spring, Lonoke, Saline, Pulaski, Prairie, Grant, Jefferson	58
April 29, 1909	Montgomery, Crawford, St. Francis, Johnson, Lee, Crittenden, Pope, Cleburne, Pike, Garland, Logan, Van Buren, Independence	38
June 9, 1910	Pulaski, Jefferson, Crawford	2
April 12, 1911	Conway, Faulkner, Pulaski	3
February 25, 1912	Lonoke, Jefferson, Arkansas, St. Francis	15
March 19, 1913	Chicot, Lincoln, Nevada, Desha, Arkansas, Little River, Hempstead	1
March 25, 1913	Johnson, Searcy, Craighead, Poinsett	2
April 27, 1914	Pike	1
June 22, 1915	Sebastian, Pulaski, Phillips, Faulkner, Conway, Clark, Prairie, Whie, Searcy, Union, Fulton	1
November 25, 1915	Garland, Lafayette	23
June 5–6, 1916	Franklin, Garland, Washington, Prairie, Monroe, Conway, Faulkner, Cleburne, Cleveland, Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph, St. Francis, Izard, Dallas, Pulaski, Lonoke, Cross, Poinsett, Independence, White, Sharp, Arkansas, Clay, Lee, Crittenden	76
August 13, 1916	Crittenden	2
December 26, 1916	Jefferson, Prairie, Lonoke	17
March 20, 1917	Clark, Dallas, Phillips, Grant, Jefferson	7
March 29, 1917	Hempstead	1
March 31, 1917	Yell, Pope	1
May 27, 1917	Mississippi	6
April 8–9, 1919	Little River, Hempstead, Howard	6
April 19, 1920	Logan, Johnson, Yell, Franklin, Boone, Searcy	14
April 15, 1921	Hemptead, Miller, Pope, Pike, Yell, Hot Spring, Benton	57
November 17, 1921	Polk, Hot Spring, Clark	11
December 23, 1921	Crittenden	9
January 4, 1922	Pulaski, Newton	5
March 15, 1922	Saline, Jefferson, Bradley, Lincoln, Desha	8
March 28, 1924	Faulkner, Poinsett, Howard, Union	2
April 29, 1924	Miller	1
May 29, 1924	Washington	1
December 7, 1924	Woodruff, Bradley, Craighead	5
June 15, 1925	Lonoke	1
February 24, 1926	Chicot	5
August 17, 1926	Mississippi	2
November 25, 1926	Cleburne, White, Pulaski, Grant, Jackson, Jefferson	30
March 18, 1927	Pike, Saline, Conway, Logan, Johnson	12
March 19, 1927	Carroll	20
May 7, 1927	Phillips	2
May 9, 1927	Faulkner, Pulaski, Lonoke, Prairie, Woodruff, St. Francis, Cross, Lawrence, Randolph, Cleveland, Lincoln, Madison, Independence, Union	71
May 28, 1927	Greene	1
September 27, 1927	Crawford, Fulton	1
October 12, 1927	Mississippi	4
April 2, 1928	Washington, Benton	4
June 9, 1928	Benton, Carroll, Jackson, Boone, Craighead	2
February 2, 1929	Arkansas	2
April 10, 1929	Independence, Jackson, Stone, Lawrence, Cross, Izard, Greene	54
April 21, 1929	Desha, Drew, Van Buren, Pope	13
May 18, 1930	Phillips	16
November 19, 1930	Yell	1
December 11, 1931	Miller	2
December 13, 1931	Ouachita, Union, Columbia	1
March 30, 1933	Union	1
April 30–May 1, 1933	Chicot, Fulton, Columbia	10
May 14, 1933	Randolph, Izard	5
June 16, 1935	Pope	1
April 5, 1936	Baxter, Izard, Sebastian, Garland, Logan	1
May 9, 1936	Sevier	2
April 23, 1937	Saline	2
June 9, 1937	Carroll, Boone	1
March 28, 1938	Miller, Hempstead, Clark, Randolph	4
March 30, 1938	Conway, Cleburne, Faulkner, Van Buren, Independence, White	17
May 23, 1938	Pope, Conway	2
March 4, 1938	Carroll, Boone	1
April 16, 1939	Drew, Union, Miller, Hempstead, Lafayette, Jefferson, Cleveland, Lincoln	30
April 30, 1940	Grant	6
October 26, 1941	Yell, Pope, Ashley	24
February 5, 1942	Grant, Jefferson, Pulaski, Saline, Lonoke, Pike, Hot Spring, Carroll, Polk	3
October 29, 1942	Carroll, Polk, Yell	30
April 10, 1944	Monroe, Jefferson, Boone, Ouachita, Columbia, Pulaski, Montgomery, Arkansas, Lee, Cross	38
April 14, 1944	Independence, Cleburne	1
April 12, 1945	Crawford, Boone, Carroll, Madison, Logan, Johnson	23
January 6, 1946	Chicot, Ashley	3
November 2, 1946	Hempstead	1
April 29, 1947	Benton	9
June 1, 1947	Jefferson, Lincoln, Drew, Desha	35
December 31, 1947	Union, Columbia, Lee, Sevier, Jefferson, Izard	3
January 3, 1949	Bradley, Grant, Dallas, Saline, Clark, Hot Spring, Desha, Union	57
March 26, 1949	Lonoke, Clark, Woodruff, Jackson, Grant, Dallas, Prairie, Cross, Poinsett, Jefferson	18
December 11, 1949	White, Van Buren	4
January 13, 1950	Polk	1
April 2, 1950	Jackson	1
January–November 1952	Arkansas, Miller, Logan, Howard, Woodruff, White, Columbia, Sharp, Lawrence, Lonoke, Scott	112
April 18, 1953	Poinsett, Independence, White, Jackson, Cross, Crittenden	1
February 15, 1954	Mississippi, Johnson	1
April 21, 1955	Jefferson, Phillips	1
November 15, 1955	Madison, Cleveland, Independence, Perry, Lawrence, Washington, Madison	1
February 15, 1956	Saline, Conway, Van Buren, Pope, Sharp, Cleburne	1
May 13, 1957	Hot Spring, Faulkner, Izard	1
December 19, 1957	Columbia, Ouachita, Jefferson	2
March 14, 1959	Garland, Saline	3
May 6, 1960	Conway, Faulkner, Van Buren, Pulaski, Nevada, Cleveland, Lincoln, White, Mississippi	2
March 12, 1961	Johnson, Carroll, White, Woodruff, Boone, Faulkner, Franklin, Yell	1
May 5–8, 1961	Pope, Garland, Faulkner, Pulaski, White, Jackson, Independence, Searcy, Marion, Baxter, Hot Spring	6
March 4, 1964	Columbia	1
April 10, 1965	Faulkner	6
April 3, 1968	Lincoln, Greene, Drew, Crittenden	6
April 19, 1968	Sebastian, Yell, Johnson, Cleburne, Crawford, Grant	12–14
May 15, 1968	Baxter, Fulton, Independence, Jackson, Craighead, Miller, Mississippi	45
June 11, 1970	Washington	1
April 20, 1973	Logan, Boone, Newton	1
April 24, 1973	Miller, Desha, Ashley, Hempstead, Nevada, Clark, Columbia, Union	2
May 26–27, 1973	Poinsett, Craighead, Crawford, Benton, Jackson, Crittenden	3
November 24, 1973	White, Pulaski, Garland, Miller, Clark, Drew, Cross	1
December 3, 1973	Chicot, Miller, Poinsett, Craighead, Columbia, Independence	1
June 6, 1974	St. Francis, Washington	4
February 22, 1975	Pulaski	1
March 28, 1975	Bradley	7
February 17, 1976	Ashley, Chicot	3
March 29, 1976	Pulaski, Lawrence, Craighead, Jackson, Cleburne, Lonoke, Prairie, Monroe, Hot Spring	6
September 1, 1977	Lawrence	1
January 7, 1978	Cross	1
December 3, 1978	Union, Lee, Desha	1
October 22, 1979	Chicot	1
October 17, 1980	Drew, Miller	1
April 2, 1982	Boone, Fulton, Faulkner, Lonoke, Monroe, Crittenden, St. Francis, Howard, Little River, Lafayette, Columbia, Hempstead, Ashley	13
May 28, 1982	Conway	1
December 2, 1982	Pulaski, Saline, White, Crawford, Sharp, Clark, Van Buren, Faulkner	3
December 24, 1982	Woodruff, Miller, Hempstead, Nevada, Hot Spring, Garland, Saline, Logan, White, Pulaski	2
March 15, 1984	Cleburne, Poinsett, Crawford, Independence	4
November 18, 1985	Marion, Baxter, Johnson, Carroll, Franklin, Crawford, Logan, Madison, Washingon	3
December 14, 1987	Crittenden	6
November 16, 1988	Pulaski, Lonoke, Van Buren, Johnson, Garland, Conway, Stone	6
March 14, 1990	Dallas	1
May 16, 1990	Clay, Lafayette, Union, Columbia	1
April 14, 1996	Stone, Izard	5
April 21, 1996	Marion, Madison, Crawford, Franklin, Searcy, Washington	2
February 20, 1997	Logan	1
March 1, 1997	Pulaski, Jackson, White, Hempstead, Nevada, Clark, Hot Spring, Saline, Independence, Craighead, Lawrence, Greene, Clay, Cross, Poinsett, Baxter, Lonoke, Yell, Conway, Van Buren, Stone	25
April 16, 1998	Mississippi	2
January 21, 1999	Faulkner, White, Greene, Independence, Monroe, St. Francis, Clay, Jefferson, Pulaski, Cleburne, Lonoke	8
November 23–24, 2001	Franklin, Logan, Johnson, Newton, Boone, Marion, White, Chicot, Ashley	4
December 18, 2002	Faulkner	1
January 12, 2005	Union	2
November 27, 2005	Yell, Pike, Montgomery, Garland, Hot Spring, Sharp, Van Buren, Searcy, Saline, Conway, Perry, Pope, Stone, Baxter, Pulaski, Faulkner, Cleburne, Fulton, Izard, white	1
April 2, 2006	Sharp, Lawrence, Randolph, Grant, White, Woodruff, Cross, Crittenden	2
January 8, 2008	Pope, Conway, Van Buren, Cross, Poinsett, Mississippi	1
February 5, 2008	Yell, Pope, Conway, Van Buren, Stone, Izard, Sharp, Baxter	13
May 2, 2008	Benton, Conway, Van Buren, Cleburne, Grant, Saline, Pulaski, Lonoke, Dallas, Woodruff, Prairie, Monroe, Mississippi, Cross, Crittenden, Chicot	8
April 9, 2009	Polk, Howard, Miller, Pike, Ashley	3
March 10, 2010	Hempstead, Saline, White, Cleburne	1
April 30–May 1, 2010	Marion, Conway, Van Buren, Grant, Stone, Saline, Pulaski, Lonoke, White, Howard, Jackson, Dallas, Calhoun, Bradley, Cleveland, Woodruff, Cross, Poinsett, Nevada, Craighead	1
December 31, 2010	Washington, Benton, Carroll, Stone	4
April 15, 2011	Pulaski	7
April 25, 2011	Faulkner, Pulaski, White, Garland, Lonoke, Perry	7
May 24–25, 2011	Franklin, Johnson, Logan	5
December 10, 2011	Poinsett, Craighead, Jackson, Miller, Woodruff	2
May 30, 2013	Montgombery, Clark, Garland, Polk	1
December 21, 2013	Jefferson, Desha, Chicot, St. Francis	1
April 27, 2014	Pulaski, Faulkner, White, Jackson, Independence	16
October 13, 2014	Little River, Lonoke, Clay, Polk	1
May 10, 2015	Franklin, Garland, Howard, Izard, Johnson, Montgomery, Newton, Pike, Pope, Searcy	2
February 24, 2018	Clay, Mississippi	1
December 10, 2021	Craighead, Mississippi, Poinsett	2
March 31, 2023	Pulaski, Lonoke, Cross	5
May 26, 2024	Benton, Boone, Carroll, Marion, Baxter, Greene, Sharp, Randolph, Fulton	10

For additional information:
Burkett, Lucille Tucker. “The Story of a 1929 Tornado and Its Effect on a Woodruff County Family.” Rivers and Roads and Points in Between 12 (Spring 1984): 23–30.

Craig, Robert D. “Sneed’s F-5 Tornado of 1929.” Stream of History 47 (August 2014): 17–25.

Farrar, Clay. “A History of Tornadoes in Garland County, 1912–2012.” The Record (2012): 111–124.

Grazulis, Thomas. Significant Tornadoes, 1880–1989. 2 vols. St. Johnsbury, VT: Environmental Films, 1991.

Hanley, Ray. “Death Wind on the Grand Prairie of Arkansas.” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 54 (Summer 1995): 163–184.

Heard, Kenneth. “Tornadoes Increasing in Arkansas Due to Climate Change, Researcher Says.” Arkansas Nonprofit News Network, June 6, 2021. https://arknews.org/index.php/2021/06/06/tornadoes-increasing-in-arkansas-due-to-climate-change-researcher-says/ (accessed May 16, 2023).

Hebda, Dwain. “Twist of Fate.” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, May 1, 2022, pp. 1E, 3E. Online at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/may/01/twist-of-fate/ (accessed May 16, 2023).

“A History of Twisters: Tornadoes in Arkansas since 1950.” Southwest Times Record. https://data.swtimes.com/tornado-archive/ (accessed June 26, 2023).

Karpinski, Marisa R. “Typing Tornadoes by Storm Mode in the Southeast United States.” MS thesis, Louisiana State University, 2020. Online at https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/5239/ (accessed May 16, 2023).

Leslie, James W. “Terror in the Wind.” Jefferson County Historical Quarterly 27 (December 1999): 4–17.

Leibovich, Marvin. “The December 2, 1982, Tornado of Saline and Pulaski Counties: Implications for Injury Prevention.” Journal of the Arkansas Medical Society 80 (July 1983): 98–102.

Leveritt, Mara. “Echoes of the Wind.” Arkansas Times, March 1988, pp. 41–45, 56–58.

The Online Tornado FAQ. Storm Prediction Center. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/ (accessed May 16, 2023).

Porterfield, Jan. “1926 Tornado.” Cleburne County Historical Journal 30 (Winter 2004): 122–141.

———.”March 30, 1938, Tornado.” Cleburne County Historical Journal 31 (Winter 2005): 1–9.

Rogash, Joseph A., and Richard D. Smith. “Multiscale Overview of a Violent Tornado Outbreak with Attendant Flash Flooding.” Weather and Forecasting 15 (August 2000): 416–431. Online at https://www.spc.noaa.gov/publications/rogash/tntorfld.pdf (accessed May 16, 2023).

Titsworth, Elizabeth. “The Terrible Tornado of 1945.” Wagon Wheels 17 (Fall/Winter 1997): 12–19.

Watts, J. Carter. “Jefferson County’s Deadliest Tornado.” Jefferson County Historical Quarterly 10.4 (1982): 4–9.

Mary Sue Passe-Smith
University of Central Arkansas

Last updated:
November 10, 2024

Questions or corrections?