5 miles south of Friendship at 247 pm CST. The tornado damaged or destroyed a number of homes and other buildings in Donaldson as it moved northeastward.
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 Clark County tornado moved into Hot Spring County 4.5 miles south of Friendship at 247 pm CST. The tornado damaged or destroyed a number of homes and other buildings in Donaldson as it moved northeastward. The tornado passed just to the south and east of Malvern. However, some damage was noted at the Malvern Airport. The tornado downed many more trees and power lines, as well as a number of buildings before it lifted about 6.5 miles east of Malvern.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F2 and F3. However, some structural damage in the Donaldson area was consistent with an F4 rating.
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:47 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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: 5592921.