Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

1997 tornadoes in Arkansas

45 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 1997, 64 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 26 people and injured 429. 5 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1996 1998 The whole country in 1997

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 1997

February 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 20	7:59 PM CST	F1	Logan	5.0	100	1	3	$250,000

March 1 33 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 1	1:55 PM CST	F3	Hempstead	18.0	880		2	$3.0 million
March 1	2:10 PM CST	F1	Baxter	5.0	200
March 1	2:20 PM CST	F4	Clark	27.0	1,053	6	100
March 1	2:37 PM CST	F1	Lonoke	3.0	50
March 1	2:39 PM CST	F3	White	13.0	100		5
March 1	2:47 PM CST	F4	Hot Spring	24.0	527		11
March 1	2:55 PM CST	F1	Yell	1.0	50
March 1	3:05 PM CST	F1	Yell	1.0	50
March 1	3:23 PM CST	F2	White	4.0	150		14
March 1	3:25 PM CST	F4	Saline	14.0	1,407	10	40
March 1	3:25 PM CST	F2	Jackson	8.5	1,053	2	30
March 1	3:30 PM CST	F1	Pope	7.5	200		1
March 1	3:31 PM CST	F2	Independence	7.5	880
March 1	3:35 PM CST	F2	Saline	2.0	350
March 1	3:38 PM CST	F2	Conway	8.0	880		1
March 1	3:41 PM CST	F4	Pulaski	11.0	1,407	5	180
March 1	3:42 PM CST	F2	Jackson	23.0	880	1	30
March 1	3:47 PM CST	F2	Pulaski	5.0	350
March 1	3:48 PM CST	F2	Van Buren	2.0	880
March 1	4:02 PM CST	F2	Lonoke	2.3	100		3
March 1	4:12 PM CST	F1	Van Buren	2.5	100
March 1	4:19 PM CST	F3	Craighead	5.0	200		2	$30,000
March 1	4:22 PM CST	F0	Stone	0.5	20
March 1	4:40 PM CST	F3	Lawrence	5.0	200		2	$500,000
March 1	4:45 PM CST	F3	Greene	15.0	200	1	5	$500,000
March 1	4:50 PM CST	F1	Stone	0.5	20
March 1	4:52 PM CST	F0	Independence	4.0	23
March 1	4:54 PM CST	F2	Woodruff	12.0	880
March 1	5:11 PM CST	F1	Jackson	3.0	50
March 1	5:15 PM CST	F1	Sharp	1.0	40
March 1	5:25 PM CST	F3	Cross	3.0	200			$750,000
March 1	5:40 PM CST	F3	Poinsett	1.0	200			$10,000
March 1	6:20 PM CST	F4	Mississippi	20.0	200			$30,000

April 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	5:20 PM CST	F1	Columbia	7.0	200			$200,000

April 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 20	8:13 PM CDT	F0	Benton	0.1	30

May 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 26	11:55 PM CDT	F0	Lawrence	0.1	10

May 27 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 27	1:55 AM CDT	F0	Craighead	0.1	10
May 27	2:45 AM CDT	F1	Pulaski	4.0	50	$200,000
May 27	2:48 AM CDT	F2	Cross	0.2	23	$100,000

June 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 16	6:49 AM CDT	F0	Johnson	0.2	20

August 14 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 14	6:40 PM CDT	F0	Van Buren	0.1	20
August 14	7:10 PM CDT	F0	Cleburne	0.1	20

October 25 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 25	4:05 PM CDT	F0	Sebastian	0.1	30

November 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 5	4:25 PM CST	F1	Hempstead	3.2	50			$70,000

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.