Thunderstorm Wind, Madison
- When
- May 3, 1:00 AM CST
- Where
- Madison County
- Coordinates
- 36.050, -93.520
Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, May 3, 1979
14 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 5 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 2
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 26
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 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail, 5 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Baxter
- When
- May 3, 1:45 AM CST
- Where
- Baxter County
- Coordinates
- 36.000, -92.400
Thunderstorm Wind, Van Buren
- When
- May 3, 2:00 AM CST
- Where
- Van Buren County
- Coordinates
- 35.670, -92.630
Thunderstorm Wind, Cleburne
- When
- May 3, 2:15 AM CST
- Where
- Cleburne County
- Coordinates
- 35.500, -92.030
Thunderstorm Wind, White
- When
- May 3, 2:50 AM CST
- Where
- White County
- Coordinates
- 35.170, -91.830
Thunderstorm Wind, Saline
- When
- May 3, 3:00 AM CST
- Where
- Saline County
- Coordinates
- 34.570, -92.580
Hail, Stone
- When
- May 3, 3:15 AM CST
- Where
- Stone County
- Measured
- 2.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 34.520, -94.950
Thunderstorm Wind, Stone
- When
- May 3, 3:15 AM CST
- Where
- Stone County
- Coordinates
- 34.520, -94.950
Thunderstorm Wind, Garland
- When
- May 3, 3:30 AM CST
- Where
- Garland County
- Coordinates
- 34.420, -92.870
Thunderstorm Wind, Grant
- When
- May 3, 4:30 AM CST
- Where
- Grant County
- Coordinates
- 34.300, -92.400
Hail, Washington
- When
- May 3, 1:10 PM CST
- Where
- Washington County
- Measured
- 2.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 36.000, -94.170
Hail, Madison
- When
- May 3, 1:15 PM CST
- Where
- Madison County
- Measured
- 2.5 in hail
- Coordinates
- 35.920, -93.530
Hail, Newton
- When
- May 3, 2:02 PM CST
- Where
- Newton County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 36.000, -93.180
Thunderstorm Wind, Mississippi
- When
- May 3, 3:30 PM CST
- Where
- Mississippi County
- Coordinates
- 35.920, -90.020
Hail, Pike
- When
- May 3, 4:10 PM CST
- Where
- Pike County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 34.030, -93.500
Tornado, Clark
- When
- May 3, 4:22 PM CST
- Where
- Clark County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $2.5 million
- Coordinates
- 34.000, -93.330
Tornado, Clark
- When
- May 3, 4:30 PM CST
- Where
- Clark County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 10 yd
- Coordinates
- 34.100, -93.070
Tornado, Hot Spring
- When
- May 3, 5:44 PM CST
- Where
- Hot Spring County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.2 mi
- Path width
- 27 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 34.250, -92.770
Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson
- When
- May 3, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County
- Coordinates
- 34.220, -92.020
Thunderstorm Wind, Lonoke
- When
- May 3, 6:30 PM CST
- Where
- Lonoke County
- Coordinates
- 34.550, -91.970
Tornado, Cleveland
- When
- May 3, 7:17 PM CST
- Where
- Cleveland County
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.3 mi
- Path width
- 27 yd
- Coordinates
- 34.030, -92.170
Tornado, Jefferson
- When
- May 3, 7:20 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 0.3 mi
- Path width
- 77 yd
- Property damage
- $3,000
- Coordinates
- 34.350, -91.800
Hail, Ouachita
- When
- May 3, 7:30 PM CST
- Where
- Ouachita County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 33.580, -92.830
Thunderstorm Wind, Monroe
- When
- May 3, 8:00 PM CST
- Where
- Monroe County
- Coordinates
- 34.680, -91.300
Hail, Lee
- When
- May 3, 8:17 PM CST
- Where
- Lee County
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Coordinates
- 34.770, -90.750
Thunderstorm Wind, Lee
- When
- May 3, 8:17 PM CST
- Where
- Lee County
- Measured
- 90 kt (104 mph)
- Coordinates
- 34.770, -90.750
What these are
- 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.
- 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
More
Every storm in Arkansas in 1979Every state in 1979This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1979
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: 9983510, 9983511, 9983512, 9983513, 9983514, 9983515, 9983516, 9983517, 9983518, 9983519, 9983520, 9983521, 9983522, 9983523, 9983524, 9983525, 9983526, 9983527, 9983528, 9983529, 9983530, 9983531, 9983532, 9983533, 9983534, 9983535.