Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

2008 tornadoes in Arkansas

80 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 2008, 191 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 21 people and injured 225. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2007 2009 The whole country in 2008

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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 2008

January 7 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
January 7	8:05 PM CST	EF0	Benton	0.1	50
January 7	8:50 PM CST	EF0	Benton	0.1	50
January 7	11:09 PM CST	EF1	Benton	2.6	85

January 8 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 8	8:26 AM CST	EF2	Pope	20.5	440	1	2	$5.3 million
January 8	1:26 PM CST	EF0	Cross	10.6	150			$25,000
January 8	1:52 PM CST	EF1	Poinsett	0.1	25			$50,000
January 8	2:20 PM CST	EF1	Mississippi	3.5	75			$100,000

February 5 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
February 5	3:26 PM CST	EF1	Ashley	0.6	50			$40,000
February 5	4:04 PM CST	EF0	Chicot	1.1	50
February 5	4:27 PM CST	EF0	Phillips	0.2	25
February 5	4:49 PM CST	EF4	Yell	121.8	1,320	13	139	$119 million
February 5	5:02 PM CST	EF2	Marion	12.5	880	1	36	$18 million
February 5	5:31 PM CST	EF0	Yell	0.6	30
February 5	7:05 PM CST	EF1	Faulkner	5.5	100			$140,000
February 5	7:19 PM CST	EF0	St. Francis	0.1	25			$1,000
February 5	7:20 PM CST	EF1	Randolph to MO	31.9	200		4	$280,000
February 5	7:30 PM CST	EF0	Union	7.0	100			$200,000
February 5	7:48 PM CST	EF0	Monroe	8.0	75			$15,000
February 5	7:59 PM CST	EF0	Lee	0.1	25			$1,000

March 3 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 3	8:27 AM CST	EF0	Little River	3.0	100			$20,000
March 3	8:46 AM CST	EF0	Howard	7.5	100			$200,000

March 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 14	3:42 AM CDT	EF2	Cleveland	9.4	350			$1.0 million

March 17 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 17	9:31 PM CDT	EF0	Polk	0.3	25			$10,000

March 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 18	11:55 AM CDT	EF1	Franklin	7.0	600			$75,000

April 3 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 3	9:02 PM CDT	EF1	Saline	8.1	500	1	$5.0 million
April 3	9:23 PM CDT	EF2	Saline	2.7	250	1	$5.0 million
April 3	9:34 PM CDT	EF2	Saline	2.6	500		$10 million
April 3	9:47 PM CDT	EF1	Pulaski	4.8	300	1	$50 million
April 3	10:06 PM CDT	EF2	Pulaski	7.1	800		$12 million
April 3	10:14 PM CDT	EF1	Pulaski	0.7	100		$30,000
April 3	10:23 PM CDT	EF1	Pulaski	2.1	100		$25,000
April 3	10:28 PM CDT	EF1	Hot Spring	4.2	80		$15,000
April 3	10:28 PM CDT	EF2	Lonoke	9.4	300		$2.0 million
April 3	10:42 PM CDT	EF1	White	13.2	300		$35,000
April 3	10:50 PM CDT	EF1	Hot Spring	1.1	250		$200,000
April 3	11:57 PM CDT	EF1	White	0.9	75		$25,000

April 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	9:42 PM CDT	EF1	Polk	2.1	150

April 10 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 10	4:29 AM CDT	EF1	Sharp	1.0	200	$10,000
April 10	5:50 AM CDT	EF2	Washington	3.0	600	$125,000
April 10	6:02 AM CDT	EF1	Madison	0.8	200	$10,000
April 10	6:20 AM CDT	EF1	Madison	10.7	900	$100,000
April 10	10:56 AM CDT	EF1	Grant	15.1	175	$30,000

May 2 14 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	8:15 AM CDT	EF3	Conway	45.3	1,600	5	24	$47 million
May 2	8:28 AM CDT	EF1	Van Buren	1.1	100
May 2	9:03 AM CDT	EF1	Howard	4.1	50			$100,000
May 2	10:23 AM CDT	EF1	Pike	8.2	200			$100,000
May 2	11:15 AM CDT	EF2	Grant	40.7	300	1	3	$9.0 million
May 2	11:23 AM CDT	EF2	Dallas	22.9	200			$3.5 million
May 2	12:56 PM CDT	EF1	Lonoke	2.5	200			$1.0 million
May 2	1:01 PM CDT	EF0	Woodruff	2.1	50			$3,000
May 2	1:02 PM CDT	EF1	Prairie	1.7	250
May 2	1:05 PM CDT	EF1	Prairie	2.6	100			$1,000
May 2	1:40 PM CDT	EF0	Monroe	0.3	50			$3,000
May 2	2:54 PM CDT	EF2	Mississippi	3.4	150		1	$500,000
May 2	3:18 PM CDT	EF3	Crittenden	20.2	400		4	$2.0 million
May 2	6:52 PM CDT	EF2	Chicot	10.5	400			$1.5 million

May 10 12 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 10	1:28 PM CDT	EF0	Washington	0.1	50
May 10	6:35 PM CDT	EF1	Benton	1.5	100		$100,000
May 10	7:14 PM CDT	EF1	White	9.2	350		$25,000
May 10	7:42 PM CDT	EF0	White	0.0	8
May 10	7:47 PM CDT	EF1	Lonoke	2.7	400
May 10	7:51 PM CDT	EF0	Franklin	0.1	50
May 10	7:55 PM CDT	EF1	Sevier	1.5	100		$250,000
May 10	7:57 PM CDT	EF1	Woodruff	10.2	500		$90,000
May 10	7:57 PM CDT	EF3	Arkansas	14.1	1,320	9	$75 million
May 10	8:26 PM CDT	EF1	Monroe	4.4	700		$25,000
May 10	9:04 PM CDT	EF0	Hempstead	1.0	50		$5,000
May 10	9:32 PM CDT	EF1	Nevada	2.4	50

September 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 2	5:50 PM CDT	EF0	Izard	0.9	60			$25,000

September 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 3	6:01 PM CDT	EF0	Chicot	0.8	25

September 13 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 13	2:47 PM CDT	EF0	Union	0.3	30
September 13	3:07 PM CDT	EF0	Bradley	2.4	50	$2,000
September 13	3:13 PM CDT	EF1	Saline	8.6	175	$100,000
September 13	3:16 PM CDT	EF1	Garland	2.4	30	$20,000
September 13	3:18 PM CDT	EF0	Union	0.5	40	$20,000
September 13	3:25 PM CDT	EF1	Saline	2.0	25	$6,000
September 13	4:03 PM CDT	EF1	Perry	1.3	75	$20,000
September 13	4:20 PM CDT	EF1	Perry	1.5	30	$5,000
September 13	5:57 PM CDT	EF1	Lonoke	0.7	100	$300,000

October 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 6	2:46 PM CDT	EF1	Polk	3.4	250			$75,000

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
April 10	5:26 AM CDT	EF2	Adair, OK to AR	9.0	400			$125,000

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.