Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, January 7, 1978

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, January 7, 1978
Start: 1978-01-07T13:00
End: 1978-01-07T20:36
Location: Arkansas

January 7, 1978 · NWS T · 24 events in 12 counties and zones

14 hail, 10 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 9
Property damage: $2.8 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 24

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

14 hail, 10 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Grant

When: January 7, 1:00 PM CST
Where: Grant County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.320, -92.550

Hail, Jefferson

When: January 7, 1:45 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.220, -92.020

Hail, Grant

When: January 7, 1:50 PM CST
Where: Grant County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 34.300, -92.330

Tornado, Woodruff

When: January 7, 3:32 PM CST
Where: Woodruff County
Rating: F3
Path length: 5.1 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 35.030, -91.220

Tornado, St. Francis

When: January 7, 3:40 PM CST
Where: St. Francis County
Rating: F3
Path length: 16.6 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Property damage: $250
Coordinates: 35.050, -91.130

Hail, Pulaski

When: January 7, 3:50 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 34.680, -92.330

Hail, Jackson

When: January 7, 3:55 PM CST
Where: Jackson County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 35.580, -91.250

Hail, Garland

When: January 7, 4:03 PM CST
Where: Garland County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.500, -93.070

Tornado, Cross

When: January 7, 4:05 PM CST
Where: Cross County
Rating: F3
Path length: 17.9 mi
Path width: 150 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 8 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 35.150, -90.870

Hail, Pulaski

When: January 7, 4:20 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 34.570, -92.500

Hail, Pulaski

When: January 7, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.770, -92.250

Hail, Pulaski

When: January 7, 5:05 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.850, -92.380

Tornado, Grant

When: January 7, 5:10 PM CST
Where: Grant County
Rating: F1
Path length: 19.4 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 34.320, -92.500

Hail, Pulaski

When: January 7, 5:25 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.880, -92.270

Hail, Saline

When: January 7, 5:35 PM CST
Where: Saline County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.620, -92.770

Hail, Pulaski

When: January 7, 5:37 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Coordinates: 34.870, -92.100

Hail, Saline

When: January 7, 5:45 PM CST
Where: Saline County
Measured: 4 in hail
Coordinates: 34.600, -92.420

Tornado, Jefferson

When: January 7, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Rating: F0
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 27 yd
Coordinates: 34.450, -92.180

Tornado, Jefferson

When: January 7, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Rating: F1
Path length: 3.3 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 34.450, -92.200

Tornado, Pulaski

When: January 7, 6:08 PM CST
Where: Pulaski County
Rating: F1
Path length: 10.4 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 34.480, -92.170

Tornado, Lonoke

When: January 7, 6:12 PM CST
Where: Lonoke County
Rating: F1
Path length: 1.9 mi
Path width: 33 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 34.580, -92.030

Tornado, Ouachita

When: January 7, 7:05 PM CST
Where: Ouachita County
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $3,000
Coordinates: 33.580, -92.850

Tornado, Ouachita

When: January 7, 7:05 PM CST
Where: Ouachita County
Rating: F1
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 33.600, -92.830

Hail, Crittenden

When: January 7, 8:36 PM CST
Where: Crittenden County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 35.130, -90.230

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, Cross	1978-01-07				Direct

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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: 9980100, 9980101, 9980102, 9980103, 9980104, 9980105, 9980106, 9980107, 9980108, 9980109, 9980110, 9980111, 9980112, 9980113, 9980114, 9980115, 9980116, 9980117, 9980118, 9980119, 9980120, 9980121, 9980122, 9980123.