Tornadoes · United States · Arkansas

2018 tornadoes in Arkansas

34 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas in 2018, 24 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 12.

2017 2019 The whole country in 2018

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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  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 2018

January 21 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 216:56 PM CSTEF1Sebastian5.2350$50,000
January 217:40 PM CSTEF1Franklin4.3400$10,000
January 219:48 PM CSTEF1Little River6.3295$40,000

January 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 2212:49 AM CSTEF1Faulkner2.7150$100,000

February 24 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 245:11 PM CSTEF0Jackson0.250$20,000
February 245:20 PM CSTEF1Cross3.275$500,000
February 245:21 PM CSTEF2Clay to MO41.915015$2.5 million
February 246:06 PM CSTEF2Mississippi9.91001$1.0 million

March 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 279:43 AM CDTEF0Sebastian2.0350$20,000

April 13 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 134:04 PM CDTEF2Crawford11.71,0004$600,000
April 135:46 PM CDTEF1Sebastian5.6400$35,000
April 136:48 PM CDTEF1Johnson5.0250
April 137:10 PM CDTEF2Howard2.2350$100,000
April 137:51 PM CDTEF0Montgomery0.7100
April 138:45 PM CDTEF1Baxter0.5150$10,000
April 139:13 PM CDTEF0Conway0.2100
April 1310:13 PM CDTEF0White0.180$2,000

April 14 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 141:51 AM CDTEF1Union7.1800$125,000
April 142:03 AM CDTEF1Union5.11,200$70,000
April 142:42 AM CDTEF1Ashley2.7600$110,000
April 142:53 AM CDTEF1Ashley4.0300$60,000
April 143:22 AM CDTEF2Chicot8.9700$600,000

May 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 31:09 PM CDTEF1Franklin9.5550$50,000

May 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 171:32 PM CDTEF0Craighead0.850

June 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 134:51 PM CDTEF0Prairie1.020$5,000

June 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 155:25 PM CDTEF0Cross0.675

August 20 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 205:27 PM CDTEF1Greene2.4120$500,000
August 205:51 PM CDTEF0Greene0.750$50,000

October 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 93:35 PM CDTEF1Johnson0.250$1,000
October 93:37 PM CDTEF1Johnson1.2100

November 30 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 3011:09 PM CSTEF2Crawford5.66002$2.5 million
November 3011:17 PM CSTEF1Crawford8.7700$75,000
November 3011:50 PM CSTEF0Logan4.3100$25,000

December 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 11:25 AM CSTEF1Hempstead8.575$300,000

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.