F2 tornado, Denmark to Swifton, Arkansas, March 1, 1997

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F2

Date

March 1, 1997

Touchdown

3:25 PM CST (21:25 UTC)

Path length

8.5 miles (13.7 km)

Path width

1,053 yards (963 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

30

County

Jackson County

Touchdown point

35.430, -91.580

Lift-off point

35.550, -91.500

Record number

168

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 tornado in Independence County moved back into Jackson County about 4 miles southwest of Jacksonport at 342 pm CST. The tornado moved northeastward into Jacksonport where there was a considerable loss of trees and damage to homes and businesses. One person was killed in a mobile home that was destroyed. A riverboat also suffered considerable damage when it was blown into a partially flooded area on the shoreline. As the tornado continued to move northeastward, it caused roof and structural damage to a number of buildings. A lot of trees were also blown down as well. The tornado crossed Highway 67 about a mile south of Tuckerman and skirted the southeast part of town. Several miles northeast of Tuckerman, on Highway 224, the tornado caused more damage to several homes. About 7 miles northeast of Tuckerman, there was quite a bit of tree damage. Some tops of trees were also removed, indicating that the tornado was aloft at times. The tornado downed more trees and power lines in the last 3 or 4 miles it was on the ground in Jackson County. The tornado exited Jackson County 5.5 miles east of Swifton at 413 pm CST. Damage along the path of the tornado was consistent with an F2 rating.

The deaths

3 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

49 minutes of warning. NWS LZK issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:36 UTC, 49 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:25 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:05 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Batesville (Awos) (BVX), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:23 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1997 tornado in ArkansasEvery tornado in Arkansas since 1950Warnings in force in Arkansas nowThe forecast where you are

55 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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