Event narrative (NOAA)
A couple went fishing on Lake Norfork (near Jordan) in a flat-bottom johnboat-type vessel. During the day, they fished in a cove. During the afternoon, while attempting to return to their launching point, they got out into the main channel of the lake where winds were producing swells estimated up to four feet high. Waves began going over the front of the boat and eventually swamped the boat. A woman in the boat drowned and her husband was taken by helicopter to the hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia and water ingestion.
Other notable strong wind events in Arkansas
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.