Arkansas, 1997

Tornado in Arkansas, March 1, 1997

March 1, 1997 · NWS LZK · 1 event in 1 county or zone

The White County tornado moved into Jackson County 3 miles south of Denmark at 325 pm CST. As the tornado crossed Highway 167, 2 people were killed when a tree fell on them while they were taking shelter from the tornado in a ditch.

Where it happened

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  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
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  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
2
Injuries
30
Property damage
$10 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 White County tornado moved into Jackson County 3 miles south of Denmark at 325 pm CST. As the tornado crossed Highway 167, 2 people were killed when a tree fell on them while they were taking shelter from the tornado in a ditch. Several mobile homes and some frame homes suffered partial roof removal as the tornado progressed across the county. The tornado exited Jackson County 7 miles northeast of Denmark at 331 pm CST. Damage along the path of the tornado was consistent with an F2 rating.

The radar

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:23 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Jackson

When
March 1, 3:25 PM CST to 3:31 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, Denmark to 3 mi NE of Denmark
Rating
F2
Path length
8.5 mi
Path width
1,056 yd
Deaths
2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
30 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$10 million
Coordinates
35.430, -91.580

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Tornado, Jackson1997-03-0121MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect
Tornado, Jackson1997-03-0130MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

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

More

Every storm in Arkansas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 1997Warnings in Arkansas, March 1997

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: 5600786.