Tornado in Pulaski County, Arkansas

A tornado began west of the Ferndale area, near the Saline/Pulaski County line. This was the first of five tornadoes produced by the same supercell thunderstorm. According to the American Red Cross, 7 houses were destroyed, 24 had major damage, 9 houses and 1 mobile home had minor damage, and 76 houses were affected in Pulaski County. Three members of one family, a 48-year-old male, a 20-year-old female, and a 14-year-old female, were killed in a house on Deer Dr. Communities affected included Ferndale and Roland. The tornado crossed the eastern portion of Lake Maumelle. The tornado exited Pulaski County 1.6 miles northeast of Roland, as it crossed the Arkansas River, and entered Faulkner County 0.6 mile southwest of Palarm.

This tornado's track was entirely within the city limits of Little Rock. It touched down southwest of the intersection of W. Markham and John Barrow Rd. and ended in the Sherrill Heights neighborhood. While there was some shingle damage to houses, the vast majority of the damage was due to trees falling on houses and vehicles. The Leawood subdivision and The Heights were hard-hit. A Red Cross survey indicated two houses were destroyed, 36 suffered major damage, 49 had minor damage, and 37 others were affected. As of 7:00 AM CDT on the 15th, the Little Rock Police Department reported more than 40 streets blocked by fallen trees. A 34 year-old woman and her 7 year-old son were killed on Cynthia Dr. when a huge tree fell into the bedroom of their house. The root system of the tree was so large that it lifted a shed off the ground. On the same block, another huge tree was uprooted and the tree pulled natural gas lines out of the ground as it fell.

This tornado exited Saline County, southeast of East End, and moved into Pulaski County, southwest of Woodson. Altogether, 75 homes (houses and mobile homes) were damaged or destroyed. This number included 21 homes destroyed, 16 with major damage, 26 with minor damage, and the remainder with only slight damage. Most of these homes were in the Hensley and Woodson areas. One woman was killed when her mobile home was destroyed on West Hensley Rd. Two large, steel, electrical transmission towers were knocked down. The tornado exited Pulaski County, east of Wrightsville, and moved into Lonoke County, just northwest of Keo.