Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, March 12, 1961

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, March 12, 1961
Start: 1961-03-12T16:00
End: 1961-03-12T21:00
Location: Arkansas

March 12, 1961 · 23 events in 17 counties and zones

19 tornado, 4 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 62
Property damage: $2.9 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 23

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

19 tornado, 4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Benton

When: March 12, 4:00 PM CST
Where: Benton County
Rating: F1
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 36.450, -93.980

Tornado, Polk

When: March 12, 4:45 PM CST
Where: Polk County
Rating: F2
Path length: 13.2 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.580, -94.080

Tornado, Carroll

When: March 12, 5:15 PM CST
Where: Carroll County
Rating: F2
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Injuries: 14 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 36.480, -93.800

Tornado, Johnson

When: March 12, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Johnson County
Rating: F2
Path length: 26.9 mi
Path width: 17 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 14 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.470, -93.800

Tornado, Franklin

When: March 12, 5:40 PM CST
Where: Franklin County
Rating: F2
Path length: 1.9 mi
Path width: 17 yd
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.450, -93.750

Hail, Polk

When: March 12, 5:48 PM CST
Where: Polk County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.580, -94.180

Tornado, Pulaski

When: March 12, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Path length: 5.4 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.600, -92.200

Tornado, Boone

When: March 12, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Boone County
Rating: F2
Path length: 19 mi
Path width: 333 yd
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 36.270, -93.230

Tornado, Perry

When: March 12, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Perry County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 417 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.870, -93.200

Tornado, Perry

When: March 12, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Perry County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 417 yd
Coordinates: 34.870, -92.970

Tornado, Pulaski

When: March 12, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Rating: F2
Path length: 5.6 mi
Path width: 417 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.920, -92.620

Tornado, Faulkner

When: March 12, 6:10 PM CST
Where: Faulkner County
Rating: F2
Path length: 26.7 mi
Path width: 417 yd
Injuries: 12 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.950, -92.530

Hail, Perry

When: March 12, 6:15 PM CST
Where: Perry County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 35.080, -92.580

Hail, Franklin

When: March 12, 6:20 PM CST
Where: Franklin County
Measured: 2.75 in hail
Coordinates: 35.380, -93.780

Tornado, Marion

When: March 12, 6:30 PM CST
Where: Marion County
Rating: F1
Path length: 19.8 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 36.170, -92.820

Tornado, White

When: March 12, 6:45 PM CST
Where: White County
Rating: F2
Path length: 1.9 mi
Path width: 417 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.130, -92.120

Hail, Faulkner

When: March 12, 6:50 PM CST
Where: Faulkner County
Measured: 2 in hail
Coordinates: 35.080, -92.500

Tornado, Searcy

When: March 12, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Searcy County
Rating: F2
Path length: 18.8 mi
Path width: 833 yd
Injuries: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.750, -92.850

Tornado, Clark

When: March 12, 7:35 PM CST
Where: Clark County
Rating: F1
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.180, -93.130

Tornado, Grant

When: March 12, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Grant County
Rating: F1
Path length: 9.2 mi
Path width: 333 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.280, -92.550

Tornado, Woodruff

When: March 12, 8:30 PM CST
Where: Woodruff County
Rating: F3
Path length: 5.1 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Injuries: 12 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.280, -91.320

Tornado, Newton

When: March 12, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Newton County
Rating: F1
Path width: 417 yd
Coordinates: 35.950, -93.070

Tornado, Poinsett

When: March 12, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Poinsett County
Rating: F1
Path length: 15.1 mi
Path width: 417 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.480, -90.980

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Johnson	1961-03-12				Direct

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 1961 Every state in 1961 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Arkansas, 1961

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 9981359, 9981360, 9981361, 9981362, 9981363, 9981364, 9981365, 9981366, 9981367, 9981368, 9981369, 9981370, 9981371, 9981372, 9981373, 9981374, 9981375, 9981376, 9981377, 9981378, 9981379, 9981380, 9981381.