Historical Arkansas Tornado: April 15, 1921

On this day in 1921, one of the worst tornadoes to ever hit the state of Arkansas occurred. The tornado started in NE Texas and tracked into SW Arkansas, killing 51 Arkansans. The tornado dissipated in Pike County.

As many of you know by now, I like to look at hand-written historical accounts of weather events. The weather watcher in Hope, AR logged a lot of information in 1921. Here's the page from April of 1921 in Hope, AR. Click to enlarge:

Notice on the line for April 15th, it says "cyclone NW". In those days, many people used the word "cyclone" instead of tornado. In these records, there is a remarks section. This is typically where the weather observer would talk about significant events that occurred that month:

In case you can't read their handwriting, I think it says:

"Awful cyclone 5 miles of Hope, 5PM. Path 1/2 mile to 1.5 miles wide and 40 miles long (path) ## people killed. Property damage at least $200###. 205 families homeless... <not sure about the rest>"

In case you wondered what it was like in Jonesboro, the records show thunderstorms... and a very wet month. Click to enlarge:

Have a good evening,
Ryan