Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

1998 tornadoes in Arkansas

35 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 1998, 27 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 12. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

1997 1999 The whole country in 1998

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 1998

January 11 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
January 11	5:23 PM CST	F0	Miller	3.9	30
January 11	5:32 PM CST	F0	Miller	2.7	30
January 11	5:33 PM CST	F0	Miller	5.8	30

February 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 10	5:45 PM CST	F1	Chicot	2.0	50			$80,000

March 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 30	8:25 PM CST	F1	Benton	1.2	130			$100,000

April 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 8	6:20 PM CDT	F0	Crittenden	0.5	30			$1,000

April 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 15	9:45 PM CDT	F0	Van Buren	2.0	100

April 16 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 16	2:50 AM CDT	F4	Mississippi	5.0	400	2	12	$350,000
April 16	3:25 AM CDT	F1	Mississippi	0.5	50			$30,000
April 16	8:15 AM CDT	F0	Pulaski	1.0	100
April 16	8:16 AM CDT	F0	Lonoke	2.0	100
April 16	11:20 AM CDT	F0	Poinsett	0.2	30			$1,000

April 26 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 26	1:30 AM CDT	F1	Saline	16.5	150

April 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	1:50 AM CDT	F0	Pulaski	4.5	80

May 6 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 6	7:39 PM CDT	F0	Crawford	0.5	50
May 6	11:31 PM CDT	F1	Garland	3.0	300			$500,000

May 9 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 9	6:35 PM CDT	F0	Ouachita	3.5	100
May 9	6:35 PM CDT	F1	Lawrence	14.0	50	$70,000
May 9	8:36 PM CDT	F0	Ashley	1.0	50

June 4 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 4	10:15 PM CDT	F1	Polk	15.5	250	$100,000
June 4	10:15 PM CDT	F1	Polk	21.0	250
June 4	12:32 AM CDT	F1	Pulaski	5.2	100
June 4	12:32 AM CDT	F1	Lonoke	5.0	250
June 4	12:36 AM CDT	F1	Lonoke	3.5	250

June 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	12:01 AM CDT	F0	Sebastian	1.0	50

June 13 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 13	7:48 PM CDT	F0	Marion	0.1	50
June 13	9:00 PM CDT	F0	Baxter	0.1	50

September 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 8	3:55 PM CDT	F1	Polk	3.0	100

October 5 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 5	5:00 PM CDT	F1	Howard	0.2	30	$40,000
October 5	5:03 PM CDT	F0	Howard	0.4	30
October 5	5:17 PM CDT	F0	Polk	0.1	50

November 10 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
November 10	1:10 AM CST	F0	Franklin	0.5	50	$30,000
November 10	2:05 AM CST	F0	Newton	0.5	100
November 10	2:20 AM CST	F0	Boone	0.5	100
November 10	5:30 AM CST	F0	Monroe	4.6	100

Crossed into Arkansas

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Arkansas. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 10	12:35 AM CST	F1	Sebastian, OK to AR	5.0	200			$760,000

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.