Tornado in Arkansas, September 26, 1996

Name: Tornado in Arkansas, September 26, 1996
Start: 1996-09-26T14:24
End: 1996-09-26T14:45
Location: Arkansas

September 26, 1996 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The tornado first touched down in Malvern. A packaging plant, car dealership and several other buildings in Malvern sustained damage.

Where it happened

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 15
Property damage: $2.1 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.

The tornado first touched down in Malvern. A packaging plant, car dealership and several other buildings in Malvern sustained damage. 15 people in Malvern received minor injuries. The tornado continued moving northeastward where it uprooted numerous trees along its path. The tornado exited Hot Spring County at 345 pm CDT. Damage along the track of the tornado was consistent with an F2 rating. Initial estimates placed the amount of damage at just over $2,000,000.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

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Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Hot Spring

When: September 26, 2:24 PM CST to 2:45 PM CST
Where: Hot Spring County, Malvern
Rating: F2
Path length: 9 mi
Path width: 60 yd
Injuries: 15 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.1 million
Coordinates: 34.370, -92.800

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 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Arkansas, 1996 Warnings in Arkansas, September 1996

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: 5574714.