5 miles south of Okolona at 220 pm CST. The tornado continued moving northeastward, causing considerable tree damage and downing a number of power lines.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS LZK wrote it up.
The tornado moved out of Nevada County and into Clark County approximately 6.5 miles south of Okolona at 220 pm CST. The tornado continued moving northeastward, causing considerable tree damage and downing a number of power lines. The first fatality occurred along I-30, several miles southwest of Arkadelphia where a vehicle was blown off the highway and the driver was killed. A truck-stop was also destroyed near this location as well. At 242 pm CST, the tornado moved into the City of Arkadelphia. A number of homes and businesses in Arkadelphia were either damaged or destroyed. 5 people in Arkadelphia were also killed. The tornado continued to move northeastward, knocking down more trees and power lines, as well as damaging more homes. The tornado exited Clark County approximately 3.5 miles northeast of Arkadelphia at 247 pm CST.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F2 to F3. However, some timber and structural damage along the path was consistent with an F4 rating.
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:17 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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, Clark | 1997-03-01 | 45 | Female | Business | Direct |
| Tornado, Clark | 1997-03-01 | 37 | Male | Mobile/Trailer Home | Direct |
| Tornado, Clark | 1997-03-01 | 45 | Female | Mobile/Trailer Home | Direct |
| Tornado, Clark | 1997-03-01 | 14 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, Clark | 1997-03-01 | 14 | Female | Permanent Home | Direct |
| Tornado, Clark | 1997-03-01 | 45 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1997Warnings in Arkansas, March 1997
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: 5592919.