Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

2003 tornadoes in Arkansas

61 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 2003, 122 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2002 2004 The whole country in 2003

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 2003

April 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 1912:43 AM CDTF1Marion16.0150

April 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 201:18 AM CDTF1Baxter13.075

April 24 13 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 244:26 PM CDTF0Jackson6.750
April 245:27 PM CDTF0Stone1.350
April 245:42 PM CDTF0Stone0.220
April 246:08 PM CDTF1Marion4.92001
April 246:44 PM CDTF1Baxter4.750
April 247:50 PM CDTF0Izard0.520
April 248:10 PM CDTF2Union16.7125
April 248:20 PM CDTF1Union20.0100$30,000
April 248:54 PM CDTF0Arkansas3.050
April 249:44 PM CDTF1Ashley3.0125$200,000
April 2410:27 PM CDTF0Chicot3.075$200,000
April 2410:47 PM CDTF0Chicot2.530$300,000
April 2411:41 PM CDTF0Jackson2.250

May 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 18:24 PM CDTF2Polk11.0200

May 4 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 46:52 PM CDTF0Van Buren3.125
May 47:15 PM CDTF1Mississippi4.0250$10,000
May 47:34 PM CDTF2Faulkner14.51001
May 47:39 PM CDTF2Mississippi15.0300$400,000
May 47:50 PM CDTF1Faulkner1.875
May 47:52 PM CDTF3Faulkner34.95005
May 48:55 PM CDTF3Woodruff43.03004$1.0 million
May 49:10 PM CDTF1Jackson1.830
May 410:00 PM CDTF1Mississippi8.0200$30,000

May 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 55:40 PM CDTF0Mississippi0.550$1,000

May 7 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 72:03 AM CDTF1Hot Spring4.0300
May 75:16 AM CDTF1Arkansas2.9350
May 72:46 PM CDTF1Dallas27.2150

May 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1010:35 PM CDTF1Jackson0.630

May 13 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 138:55 PM CDTF1Lafayette7.950
May 139:22 PM CDTF0Columbia2.225

May 16 27 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 162:46 PM CDTF0Yell3.030
May 162:47 PM CDTF1Jackson5.0100
May 163:08 PM CDTF1Jackson17.0100
May 164:06 PM CDTF1Faulkner7.0100
May 164:17 PM CDTF1Faulkner5.075
May 164:20 PM CDTF1Perry2.475
May 164:23 PM CDTF0Perry2.330
May 164:25 PM CDTF1Faulkner6.0100
May 164:31 PM CDTF0Perry1.325
May 164:35 PM CDTF1White4.5100
May 164:43 PM CDTF2White5.0150
May 164:45 PM CDTF0Sebastian0.225
May 164:47 PM CDTF1Cleburne10.050
May 165:01 PM CDTF0Logan3.825
May 165:06 PM CDTF1White5.580
May 165:20 PM CDTF1White4.5100
May 165:29 PM CDTF2White5.0150
May 165:58 PM CDTF1Jackson16.0100
May 166:14 PM CDTF1Yell3.460
May 166:27 PM CDTF0Yell2.230
May 166:39 PM CDTF2Saline4.7150
May 166:40 PM CDTF1Poinsett5.0100$50,000
May 166:40 PM CDTF0Garland3.530
May 167:10 PM CDTF1Dallas16.0100
May 167:24 PM CDTF0Pulaski4.725
May 167:35 PM CDTF0Pulaski8.250
May 168:32 PM CDTF2Dallas25.8500

July 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 303:00 PM CDTF0Bradley0.625

December 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 93:42 PM CSTF1Calhoun1.050

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
May 17:33 PM CDTF0LeFlore, OK to AR2.575
May 46:58 PM CDTF0LeFlore, OK to AR18.830

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.