Arkansas Storm Team Weather Blog: 11 tornadoes in 2024
May started busy across Arkansas. Seven out of the first nine days of May have featured a severe weather risk. We have seen four confirmed tornadoes so far in May and 11 so far in 2024.
In this weather blog, we are going to recap the 11 tornadoes that have touched down in the state and see how this severe weather season so far compares to years past.
The 1st tornado of 2024 occurred on February 9th in Saline County. It was an EF-1 tornado with a path length of 2.5 miles. It impacted the community of East End.
The 2nd tornado occurred on March 14th in Garland County. It was an EF-2 tornado with a path length of 8.5 miles. It impacted the city of Hot Springs Village.
The 3rd tornado occurred on April 2nd in Benton County. It was an EF-1 with a path length of 2.8 miles. It impacted the community of Garfield.
The 4th tornado also occurred on April 2nd in Benton County. It was an EF-1 with a path length of 2.4 miles. It impacted the community of Garfield.
The 5th tornado occurred on April 28th in Lafayette County. It was an EF-1 and had a path length of only 0.8 miles. It impacted the community of Bradley.
The 6th tornado also occurred on April 28th in Lafayette County. It was an EF-1 and had a path length of 1.4 miles. It also impacted the community of Bradley.
The 7th tornado occurred on April 28th. This one touched down in Carroll County. I was an EF-Unknown and had a path of 2.1 miles. It impacted the community of Carrollton.
The 8th tornado occurred on May 5th in Sevier County. It was an EF-0 that only briefly touched down and had no measurable path length. It impacted the community of Lockesburg.
The 9th tornado occurred on May 7th in Washington County. It was an EF-1 and the length of the path is still unknown. It impacted the community of Odell.
The 10th tornado also occurred on May 7th this one in Crawford County. It was an EF-1 and the length of the path is still unknown. It impacted the community of Mountainburg.
The 11th tornado occurred on May 8th in Garland County. It was an EF-2 and had a path length of 12.2 miles. It impacted the city of Hot Springs.
Most of the tornadoes this year have been weak. Only two tornadoes have been strong, and we have not seen any violent tornadoes. EF-0 and EF-1 are considered weak, EF-2 and EF-3 are considered strong, and EF-4 and EF-5 are considered violent. This is the terminology used by the National Weather Service.
All tornadoes are dangerous and can cause injuries and deaths. So far in 2024, there have been no injuries or deaths caused by tornadoes.
How does this year’s tornado count compare to the last few years?
It has been a relatively calm year. Last year at this time Arkansas had already seen 20 tornadoes. In 2022 we had 22 tornadoes by this time.
This year has been the quietest since 2015 when we only had 5 confirmed tornadoes by May 9th. 2015 ended with 20 tornadoes for the year which is 17 below the average of 37.
I hope this below-average tornado count continues for the rest of 2024 and we don’t see any tornadoes that cause harm to any Arkansans!
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