Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

1965 tornadoes in Arkansas

24 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 1965, 13 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 6 people and injured 226. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1964 1966 The whole country in 1965

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Arkansas in 1965

January 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 235:30 PM GMT-6F2Clay8.710$500 to $5,000

January 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 267:00 PM GMT-6F2Pike0.110$500 to $5,000

February 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 811:45 PM GMT-6F1Howard14.0417$5,000 to $50,000

February 9 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 910:00 AM GMT-6F1Clark1.030$5,000 to $50,000
February 911:15 AM GMT-6F1Columbia0.110$50 to $500
February 912:00 PM GMT-6F1Hempstead0.110$500 to $5,000
February 912:00 PM GMT-6F1Columbia0.110$500 to $5,000
February 912:50 PM GMT-6F3Bradley1.51671$50,000 to $500,000
February 92:00 PM GMT-6F3Arkansas10.53334$50,000 to $500,000
February 92:45 PM GMT-6F3Monroe2.02005$5,000 to $50,000

February 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 112:15 PM GMT-6F2DeSoto to MS19.62504$50,000 to $500,000
February 112:30 PM GMT-6F2Phillips14.450$50,000 to $500,000

March 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 169:30 PM GMT-6F2Johnson0.110$5,000 to $50,000

March 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 1712:15 AM GMT-6F2Hot Spring1.0200$5,000 to $50,000

April 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 36:00 PM GMT-6F1Madison0.510$500 to $5,000

April 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 81:20 PM GMT-6F1Benton0.3100$5,000 to $50,000

April 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 106:26 PM GMT-6F4Faulkner4.72006200$5 million to $50 million

April 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 183:00 PM GMT-6F2Mississippi0.1104$500 to $5,000

May 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 89:30 PM GMT-5F2Sebastian5.11008$50,000 to $500,000

May 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 266:45 PM GMT-5F2Mississippi12.010$50,000 to $500,000

September 21 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 214:00 PM GMT-5F2Union0.110$500 to $5,000
September 219:00 PM GMT-5F1Independence1.010$5,000 to $50,000

November 26 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 267:30 PM GMT-6F3Greene3.6880$50,000 to $500,000
November 268:30 PM GMT-6F1Clay0.110$500 to $5,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in ArkansasThe live radar over Arkansas

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.