Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

1990 tornadoes in Arkansas

20 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 1990, 27 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 8.

1989 1991 The whole country in 1990

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1990

February 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 2	11:40 PM CST	F0	Grant	0.5	50

February 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 9	3:15 PM CST	F0	Mississippi	0.2	50

March 14 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 14	8:00 AM CST	F0	Benton	0.2	50
March 14	7:40 PM CST	F2	Dallas	2.0	200	1	6	$50,000 to $500,000
March 14	10:00 PM CST	F1	Chicot	0.2	30			$50,000 to $500,000

May 16 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries
May 16	5:59 PM CDT	F2	Columbia	26.5	77
May 16	6:40 PM CDT	F0	Sebastian	0.8	50
May 16	7:40 PM CDT	F2	Clay	15.0	77	1	1
May 16	7:49 PM CDT	F0	Union	3.0	77

May 19 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries
May 19	4:22 PM CDT	F0	Pulaski	0.5	50
May 19	6:50 PM CDT	F0	Pike	6.0	77	1
May 19	7:22 PM CDT	F0	Hempstead	0.5	50
May 19	8:10 PM CDT	F0	Conway	0.8	50

May 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 20	2:30 AM CDT	F0	Sevier	0.5	50

June 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 2	12:00 PM CDT	F1	Sebastian	2.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000
June 2	10:05 PM CDT	F0	Crittenden	0.1	20

June 25 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 25	5:33 PM CDT	F0	Howard	0.2	50			$50 to $500
June 25	6:10 PM CDT	F0	Pike	0.5	50

September 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 8	4:10 PM CDT	F0	Chicot	0.2	30

December 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 30	11:25 AM CST	F2	Ashley	10.0	100			$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Arkansas since 1950 Warnings in force in Arkansas The 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.