Tornado, Benton
- When
- May 12, 1:14 PM CST
- Where
- Benton County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 3 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 36.150, -94.530
Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, May 12, 1978
5 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 2
- Property damage
- $303,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 10
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
5 tornado, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Washington
- When
- May 12, 1:50 PM CST
- Where
- Washington County
- Coordinates
- 35.980, -94.320
Hail, Johnson
- When
- May 12, 2:45 PM CST
- Where
- Johnson County
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Coordinates
- 35.430, -93.670
Hail, Polk
- When
- May 12, 3:14 PM CST
- Where
- Polk County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 34.580, -94.230
Tornado, Stone
- When
- May 12, 4:10 PM CST
- Where
- Stone County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 12.1 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 35.920, -92.320
Tornado, Hempstead
- When
- May 12, 5:45 PM CST
- Where
- Hempstead County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 2 mi
- Path width
- 77 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 33.520, -93.580
Tornado, Grant
- When
- May 12, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Grant County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.3 mi
- Path width
- 27 yd
- Coordinates
- 34.330, -92.230
Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson
- When
- May 12, 6:35 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County
- Coordinates
- 34.020, -91.930
Tornado, Arkansas
- When
- May 12, 6:58 PM CST
- Where
- Arkansas County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.3 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 34.220, -91.250
Thunderstorm Wind, Mississippi
- When
- May 12, 7:40 PM CST
- Where
- Mississippi County
- Coordinates
- 35.700, -89.970
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.
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- 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
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, May 12, 1978
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, May 12, 1978
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 12, 1978
- Tornadoes and Hail in Illinois, May 12, 1978
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, May 12, 1978
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Indiana, May 12, 1978
- Tornado and Hail in Louisiana, May 12, 1978
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, May 12, 1978
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, May 12, 1978
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 12, 1978
- Damaging Wind in Iowa, May 12, 1978
- Damaging Wind in Nebraska, May 12, 1978
More
Every storm in Arkansas in 1978Every state in 1978This day in weather historyThe 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: 9981238, 9981239, 9981240, 9981241, 9981242, 9981243, 9981244, 9981245, 9981246, 9981247.