Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

2009 tornadoes in Arkansas

43 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 2009, 56 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 39.

2008 2010 The whole country in 2009

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 2009

April 9 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	8:02 PM CDT	EF3	Polk	14.8	1,075	3	30	$130 million
April 9	8:34 PM CDT	EF2	Howard	2.7	250		1	$500,000
April 9	8:51 PM CDT	EF3	Miller	9.9	850			$1.0 million
April 9	8:53 PM CDT	EF1	Pike	3.0	350			$25,000
April 9	11:27 PM CDT	EF2	Ashley	13.6	600			$600,000

April 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	6:11 PM CDT	EF1	Johnson	3.1	180			$50,000

April 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 29	5:01 PM CDT	EF0	Madison	3.0	200			$20,000
April 29	5:07 PM CDT	EF0	Franklin	1.0	125			$75,000

April 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 30	4:13 PM CDT	EF0	Jackson	0.6	24			$1,000

May 1 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 1	8:27 PM CDT	EF0	Newton	0.7	50			$10,000
May 1	9:11 PM CDT	EF0	Pope	0.3	50			$10,000

May 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	6:13 PM CDT	EF1	Miller	3.5	150		3	$50,000

May 6 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 6	1:19 AM CDT	EF0	Arkansas	4.4	25	$5,000
May 6	2:03 AM CDT	EF1	Phillips	0.1	25	$40,000
May 6	4:52 AM CDT	EF1	Drew	2.1	100	$50,000

May 9 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 9	2:10 PM CDT	EF0	Little River	2.3	75
May 9	2:30 PM CDT	EF0	Hempstead	5.5	75

May 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 14	4:20 AM CDT	EF0	Little River	2.4	100

June 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	2:10 PM CDT	EF1	Conway	2.4	500			$200,000

July 21 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 21	1:42 PM CDT	EF0	Hempstead	1.3	125	$5,000
July 21	4:12 PM CDT	EF0	Faulkner	0.9	25
July 21	4:34 PM CDT	EF0	Faulkner	1.2	250	$10,000
July 21	8:20 PM CDT	EF0	Jefferson	1.6	200	$10,000

July 30 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
July 30	2:42 PM CDT	EF1	Dallas	2.3	250	$15,000
July 30	3:23 PM CDT	EF2	Arkansas to MS	33.4	600	$5.1 million
July 30	3:48 PM CDT	EF0	Poinsett	4.5	150	$100,000
July 30	4:11 PM CDT	EF0	Lincoln	1.9	150	$30,000

October 29 16 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
October 29	1:55 PM CDT	EF0	Union	3.4	50
October 29	3:07 PM CDT	EF1	Union	5.5	75		$10,000
October 29	3:13 PM CDT	EF1	Union	1.5	75		$50,000
October 29	3:13 PM CDT	EF1	Ouachita	20.0	1,050		$812,000
October 29	3:45 PM CDT	EF2	Calhoun	10.8	1,250		$2.0 million
October 29	4:00 PM CDT	EF1	Dallas	5.1	150		$50,000
October 29	5:04 PM CDT	EF1	Grant	1.6	200		$150,000
October 29	5:26 PM CDT	EF1	Scott	8.1	350		$175,000
October 29	5:34 PM CDT	EF1	Columbia	1.4	100		$75,000
October 29	5:39 PM CDT	EF1	Columbia	1.5	150	1	$200,000
October 29	5:59 PM CDT	EF0	Lonoke	3.0	35		$1,000
October 29	6:27 PM CDT	EF2	Ouachita	25.9	1,250		$300,000
October 29	6:33 PM CDT	EF1	Columbia	7.6	100		$50,000
October 29	7:45 PM CDT	EF1	Grant	0.6	75		$50,000
October 29	8:10 PM CDT	EF0	Columbia	3.1	75
October 29	10:52 PM CDT	EF1	Jefferson	2.6	400	4	$400,000

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)	Injuries	Damage
April 9	7:26 PM CDT	EF2	Polk, OK to AR	10.7	800	4	$350,000
April 9	8:01 PM CDT	EF3	Sevier, OK to AR	37.2	850	7	$5.1 million
December 23	10:10 PM CST	EF1	Cass, TX to AR	4.8	150		$100

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.