Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

2001 tornadoes in Arkansas

39 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 2001, 42 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 24.

2000 2002 The whole country in 2001

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 2001

February 24 15 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 243:31 PM CSTF2Pulaski14.32008
February 243:50 PM CSTF1Pulaski2.285
February 244:06 PM CSTF2Lonoke8.0300
February 244:14 PM CSTF1White7.0100
February 244:21 PM CSTF1Lonoke9.0603
February 244:27 PM CSTF1White3.540
February 244:46 PM CSTF2Fulton8.030013
February 245:34 PM CSTF2Jackson11.0200$70,000
February 245:43 PM CSTF1Drew5.51001
February 246:01 PM CSTF3Desha42.0300
February 246:10 PM CSTF0Ashley0.5200$1,000
February 246:13 PM CSTF1Lonoke2.7100
February 246:25 PM CSTF2Prairie12.7200
February 246:30 PM CSTF0Chicot0.5200$1,000
February 246:42 PM CSTF2Desha9.02002$50,000

May 20 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 2012:10 PM CDTF1Cleburne5.8150
May 207:55 PM CDTF0White0.120
May 208:13 PM CDTF0Madison0.325
May 208:25 PM CDTF0Carroll0.325
May 208:29 PM CDTF0Sebastian1.0100$10,000
May 208:51 PM CDTF0Franklin0.325
May 2011:42 PM CDTF1Faulkner4.0100

May 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 289:58 AM CDTF0Chicot14.0100$1,000

May 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 307:12 AM CDTF1Faulkner1.550

November 23 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 237:25 PM CSTF1Logan8.0150$210,000
November 237:36 PM CSTF2Franklin31.550014$2.0 million
November 237:40 PM CSTF1Franklin8.8150$10,000
November 238:24 PM CSTF2Newton18.5200
November 239:03 PM CSTF1Boone8.0100

November 24 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 241:25 AM CSTF2White5.58803
November 241:31 AM CSTF1Chicot1.0100$500,000

November 26 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 264:29 PM CSTF1Clark1.475
November 265:00 PM CSTF1Union3.930
November 265:47 PM CSTF2Bradley19.8200
November 266:17 PM CSTF2Lincoln10.5150

December 7 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 75:25 PM CSTF0Saline0.325
December 76:16 PM CSTF0Pulaski5.025
December 77:20 PM CSTF0Pulaski7.025
December 77:53 PM CSTF0White6.025

Crossed into Arkansas

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 2412:40 AM CSTF3Morehouse Parish, LA to AR30.0880311$2.3 million

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.