Tornadoes in Arkansas, December 3, 1978

Name: Tornadoes in Arkansas, December 3, 1978
Start: 1978-12-03T02:00
End: 1978-12-03T06:50
Location: Arkansas

December 3, 1978 · 12 events in 11 counties and zones

12 tornado, 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

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 7
Property damage: $6.8 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 12

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

12 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Ouachita

When: December 3, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Ouachita County
Rating: F2
Path length: 8.4 mi
Path width: 250 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.730, -92.820

Tornado, Dallas

When: December 3, 2:15 AM CST
Where: Dallas County
Rating: F2
Path length: 16.8 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.800, -92.700

Tornado, Union

When: December 3, 3:25 AM CST
Where: Union County
Rating: F2
Path length: 6.4 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 7 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.170, -92.900

Tornado, Jefferson

When: December 3, 3:30 AM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Rating: F1
Path length: 3.8 mi
Path width: 77 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 34.150, -91.900

Tornado, Calhoun

When: December 3, 4:00 AM CST
Where: Calhoun County
Rating: F1
Path length: 8.4 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.400, -92.450

Tornado, Arkansas

When: December 3, 4:30 AM CST
Where: Arkansas County
Rating: F1
Path length: 25.3 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.370, -91.650

Tornado, Union

When: December 3, 4:50 AM CST
Where: Union County
Rating: F3
Path length: 3.8 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Coordinates: 33.000, -92.580

Tornado, Monroe

When: December 3, 4:55 AM CST
Where: Monroe County
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 34.520, -91.180

Tornado, Lee

When: December 3, 5:12 AM CST
Where: Lee County
Rating: F2
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.770, -90.770

Tornado, Lincoln

When: December 3, 5:15 AM CST
Where: Lincoln County
Rating: F2
Path length: 12 mi
Path width: 400 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.830, -91.720

Tornado, Desha

When: December 3, 5:45 AM CST
Where: Desha County
Rating: F2
Path length: 6.6 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.920, -91.530

Tornado, Phillips

When: December 3, 6:50 AM CST
Where: Phillips County
Rating: F2
Path length: 0.8 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 34.520, -90.600

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, Union	1978-12-03				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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Arkansas in 1978 Every state in 1978 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Arkansas, 1978

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: 9982358, 9982359, 9982360, 9982361, 9982362, 9982363, 9982364, 9982365, 9982366, 9982367, 9982368, 9982369.