Disaster History · Tornado · Arkansas · Case Study
Fort Smith, 1898.
The city was asleep.
Around midnight on a January night, an F4 tornado tore through Fort Smith while the city slept. There was no warning system, no radar, no way to know it was coming. Fifty-five people died. It remains tied for the deadliest single tornado in Arkansas history.
What happened
A tornado at midnight, before warnings existed.
On the evening of January 11, 1898, a tornado family formed approximately 60 miles to the southwest of Fort Smith, likely beginning near Cache Creek in what was then Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The tornado moved northeast, causing intermittent damage along the way, crossing the Poteau River before reaching Fort Smith around midnight.[2]
Fort Smith was a city of approximately 12,000 people in 1898, situated on the Arkansas River at the border with Indian Territory. Most of its residents were asleep. There was no weather forecasting service capable of predicting tornadoes, no sirens, no radios, no telephones in most homes. The first indication of danger for most people was the sound of the tornado itself.
The storm struck the Fort Smith National Cemetery first, leveling a one-mile stretch of five-foot-high masonry wall and downing trees. It then moved into the residential and commercial districts. The newly constructed Fort Smith High School, which had opened in fall 1897, was nearly destroyed.[1]
Fifty-five people died. Another 113 were injured. Damage exceeded $453,000, roughly equivalent to $17.5 million in today's value. Additional tornadoes were reported that night in other parts of Arkansas and Missouri, making this a multi-state event with at least five confirmed tornadoes.[1]
Why it was so deadly
Darkness, sleep, and no technology at all.
The 1898 Fort Smith tornado is one of the clearest illustrations of why nighttime tornadoes are disproportionately lethal. Every factor that makes a tornado survivable was absent.
01
People were asleep
The tornado struck around midnight. Most of Fort Smith's residents were in bed. Even if they had been awake, there was no way to see a tornado approaching in the dark, in a thunderstorm, in 1898. The first warning was the roar of the wind itself.
02
No technology of any kind
In 1898, the U.S. Weather Bureau existed but had no capacity to forecast tornadoes. Radar would not be invented for another four decades. The telephone was in its infancy. Even if someone had spotted the tornado, there was no mechanism to warn the rest of the city.
03
Winter timing
Like the 1949 Warren tornado, the Fort Smith tornado struck in January. Severe storms and tornadoes in midwinter remain less expected and catch people less prepared than spring events. The combination of winter and nighttime created the worst possible conditions for awareness.
04
Violent intensity through a city
The tornado was retroactively rated F4, with estimated winds of 207 to 260 mph. It struck through populated residential and commercial areas, not open farmland. The National Cemetery's masonry wall, built to last, was flattened along a one-mile stretch.[1]
The enduring lesson
Nighttime tornadoes are still more deadly.
The Fort Smith tornado happened 128 years ago, but the problem it represents has not been fully solved. Modern research consistently shows that tornadoes striking between midnight and dawn carry a significantly higher fatality rate than daytime tornadoes, even with modern warning technology.[3]
The reasons are practical. Outdoor warning sirens may not be heard by sleeping residents. Weather apps require the phone to be on, charged, and set to deliver severe weather alerts. Television weather broadcasts reach no one who is asleep. Visual confirmation of a tornado, the most visceral warning possible, is eliminated in the dark.
The solution is the same one that has worked since the technology became available: a NOAA Weather Radio with a tone-alert feature, placed in the bedroom, with fresh batteries. It activates on its own when the National Weather Service issues a tornado warning for your county. It is the only warning system designed specifically to wake a sleeping person.[4]
Arkansas, where nighttime tornadoes are more common than in the traditional Tornado Alley states, has invested heavily in expanding NOAA Weather Radio transmitter coverage to rural areas through the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.[5]
What changed
A century of progress, measured in lives.
The 1898 Fort Smith tornado occurred before the science of tornado forecasting existed. Every tool we have today was built, piece by piece, over the century that followed.
1898: No warning was possible
In 1898, the science of severe weather forecasting simply did not exist. The U.S. Weather Bureau tracked general weather patterns but could not predict tornadoes. The word "tornado" was actually banned from Weather Bureau forecasts for a period, due to fears of causing public panic.[6]
1948: First successful tornado forecast
Air Force meteorologists at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma successfully predicted a tornado, proving it could be done. This breakthrough was initially kept within the military. It took events like the 1949 Warren and 1952 Judsonia tornadoes to force the Weather Bureau to extend this capability to the public.[6]
1990s: Doppler radar coverage
The national WSR-88D Doppler radar network, deployed in the 1990s, gave forecasters the ability to detect rotation inside storms and issue tornado warnings with up to 15 minutes of lead time. Average warning lead times have continued to improve.[5]
Today: Multiple warning channels
Modern Arkansas households can receive tornado warnings through outdoor sirens, NOAA Weather Radio, smartphone Wireless Emergency Alerts, weather apps, television, and radio. The challenge is no longer whether a warning can be issued, but whether it reaches people who are asleep, in mobile homes, or in areas without siren coverage.[4]
Household lessons
Your warning system needs to wake you up.
The Fort Smith tornado's central lesson is that the most dangerous tornado is the one you do not know is coming. In 1898, no one could know. Today, every household can solve this problem for less than $40 with a NOAA Weather Radio that activates when a warning is issued for your county.
For households in Arkansas and other states where nighttime tornadoes are a real risk, the hazard plan needs to account for waking up to a warning. That means a shelter location everyone in the household can reach in the dark, without needing to find a flashlight first. Practice the route. Count the steps.
The 128 years between the Fort Smith tornado and today represent a near-complete transformation in warning capability. The gap that remains is personal: each household has to set up the systems, practice the plan, and make sure the warning can reach them at 2:00 a.m. on a January night. The technology exists. The rest is preparation.
Where this connects
From case study to your household.
Hazard Guide
Tornado Preparedness
Shelter plans, warning systems, safe rooms, and the specific steps that save lives when a tornado warning sounds.
See the guide
Disaster History
Tornado History Overview
How tornadoes form, where they strike, and the deadliest outbreaks in U.S. history.
Read the overview
Self-Reliance · Communications
Warning Systems
NOAA Weather Radio, emergency alerts, and how to make sure warnings reach your household at any hour.
Set up your alerts
Related events
Other major Arkansas tornadoes
January 3, 1949
Warren Tornado
An F4 tornado struck Warren in Bradley County, killing 55 people. Tied with the Fort Smith tornado as the deadliest single tornado in Arkansas history. Like Fort Smith, it struck without warning.
March 21, 1952
Judsonia Tornado Outbreak
Fifteen tornadoes struck Arkansas in a single afternoon, killing 111 people. The Judsonia tornado alone killed 50. The deadliest tornado day in state history.
Sources
Citations
- [1] Wikipedia contributors. "1898 Fort Smith tornadoes." Documents the F4 rating, 55 deaths, 113 injuries, damage figures, and damage to Fort Smith National Cemetery and Fort Smith High School. [source]
- [2] Wikipedia contributors. "1898 Fort Smith tornadoes." Documents the tornado family origin near Cache Creek in Indian Territory, approximately 60 miles southwest of Fort Smith, and the intermittent path across the Poteau River. [source]
- [3] Ashley, Walker S. "Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Tornado Fatalities in the United States: 1880-2005." Weather and Forecasting, 2007. Documents the disproportionate fatality rate of nighttime tornadoes.
- [4] National Weather Service. "NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards (NWR)." Documents the tone-alert feature designed to wake sleeping listeners during severe weather warnings. [source]
- [5] Encyclopedia of Arkansas. "Tornadoes." Entry 2377. Documents Arkansas's investment in NOAA Weather Radio transmitter coverage expansion and ADEM safe room incentive programs. [source]
- [6] "History Minute: The Deadliest Tornadoes Recorded in Arkansas." The Arkadelphian, May 2026. Documents the evolution from no public tornado forecasts through modern Doppler radar coverage. [source]
- [7] "History Minute: Historic Tornadoes in Arkansas." The Arkadelphian, April 2023. Documents the 1898 Fort Smith tornado striking at 11:15 PM, killing 55, injuring 113. [source]
- [8] Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VT: The Tornado Project of Environmental Films, 1993. Pages 681-682, 941.
- [9] Tornado Project. "The United State's Worst Tornadoes." Lists Fort Smith tornado among Arkansas's deadliest events. [source]
- [10] National Weather Service, Little Rock, AR. "Tornadoes: Frequently Asked Questions." Identifies Fort Smith 1898 and Warren 1949 as tied for deadliest single tornado in state history. [source]
Last reviewed: August 2026 · NWS Editorial Team