42
Recorded events
8
Direct deaths
54
Direct injuries
$61.9M
Property damage
Tornado in Independence County, Arkansas: 42 recorded events between 1952 and 2014. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #567 nationally and #17 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Independence County, Arkansas: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Independence County is the 1990s, when 12 of the county's 42 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Independence County archive, tornado makes up 7.5% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #567 for this hazard and #17 within Arkansas, putting it in the 80.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Mar is the peak month for tornado in Independence County with 8 recorded events, while Feb is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968-05-15 | EF4 | 0.3 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 1984-03-15 | EF4 | 41.0 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 2025-03-14 | EF4 | 18.5 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-03-14 | EF3 | 81.0 mi | 700 yd | Touched down here |
| 1955-11-15 | EF3 | 36.5 mi | 133 yd | Crossed in |
| 1999-01-21 | EF3 | 19.0 mi | 700 yd | Crossed in |
| 1999-01-21 | EF3 | 31.0 mi | 0 yd | Touched down here |
| 1973-04-19 | EF3 | 1.0 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1997-03-01 | EF2 | 8.5 mi | 1,053 yd | Crossed in |
| 1999-01-21 | EF2 | 11.0 mi | 350 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 1968 | F4 | 7 | 24 | $2.5M | |
| Nov 15, 1955 | F3 | 1 | 3 | $250K | |
| Apr 19, 1973 | F3 | 0 | 18 | $2.5M | |
| Jan 21, 1999 | OIL TROUGH | F2 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| Mar 16, 1984 | F4 | 0 | 3 | $25.0M | |
| Jun 6, 2014 | BATESVILLE | EF1 | 0 | 2 | $250K |
| Jan 22, 1999 | PLEASANT PLAINS | F2 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 6, 2014 | BATESVILLE | EF1 | $250K |
| Apr 28, 2014 | UNION HILL | EF1 | $20K |
| May 25, 2011 | ELMO | EF1 | $30K |
| Mar 11, 2010 | HUTSON | EF1 | $1.2M |
| Apr 30, 2009 | ELMO | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 24, 2003 | CORD | F0 | $0 |
| Dec 18, 2002 | NEWARK | F0 | $0 |
| May 27, 2000 | SOUTH SIDE | F1 | $0 |
| May 9, 2000 | NEWARK | F0 | $0 |
| May 4, 2000 | WALNUT GROVE | F0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Independence County
- Thunderstorm Wind 223
- Hail 174
- Flash Flood 60
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
In the Maple Springs area, three new chicken houses were destroyed and six others were damaged. More than 80,000 chickens were killed or turned loose. A large grain truck was overturned onto a farm tractor. A mobile elevator was destroyed, as were two sheds. Two travel trailers were overturned.
An F2 tornado touched down 2 miles south of Oil Trough and traveled approximately 5 miles to the northeast before lifting. The path that the tornado traveled was mostly in farm fields. However, the tornado did strike several houses and an airplane hangar. One home sustained major damage, while two other homes received some minor structural damage. A number of trees were also snapped off or uprooted along the path. A local pilot managed to capture a portion of the storm on videotape. The homes that were damaged were unoccupied at the time the tornado struck.
An EF1 tornado began on the north side of Batesville adjacent to U.S. 167, then moved to the northeast. At a motel, part of the roof was taken off the lobby entrance and a couple of windows were blown out. A company selling flooring materials had a wall caved in and part of the roof taken off. At a childcare center, windows were blown out, part of the roof was taken off, and cars were tossed around in the parking lot, causing minor injuries to two people. A small business had a window blown out of its building and cars in the parking lot also lost some windows. In addition, trees, power lines, and cable lines were blown down.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Independence County, Arkansas?
42 tornado events are recorded in Independence County between 1952 and 2014, causing 8 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Independence County?
The strongest tornado on record in Independence County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Independence County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Independence County, Arkansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arkansas/independence-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.