1921 — Dec 23-24, Tornadoes (5), AR (6 deaths) LA (6 deaths), MS (13 deaths)  –25-29

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-6-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–25-29  Blanchard. From accounts below we have not been able to definitively establish fatalities to our satisfaction. Thus we employ a fatality range using out best judgment – 25-29. For the low end of the death toll range we choose to rely on Grazulis, a usually very reliable source. Given the higher numbers reported in other sources we choose to entertain the possibility that more lives were lost than the 25 noted by Grazulis. For this we choose to go to the Wikipedia “Portal: Tornadoes…” page which notes at least 26 deaths and perhaps 29.

—     44  Pueblo Chieftain, CO. “44 Dead, Scores Hurt in Storm.” 12-25-1921, p. 1.

—  9  eastern AR

–27  northern MS

—  8  northwestern LA

—     44  Wikipedia. “December 1921…December 24, 1921 (Saturday).” 4-26-2025 edit.[1]

—     41  Mobile News-Item, AL. “Towns Begin To Climb Up From Debris.” 12-26-1921, p. 1.

—     36  Mobile News-Item, AL. “Emerging From Debris.” 12-26-1921, p. 1.

—     31  AP. “Tornado Claims a Number of Lives.” Abilene Daily Reporter, TX. 12-25-1921, p1.

            –5  Spencer, Union Parish, LA          {These numbers total to 21 not 31.}

            –7  Moorehouse Parish. LA

            –3  Greenwood area [Leflore County]

            –5  Marks area [Quitman County]

            –1  Crittenden County, AR

–26-29  Wikipedia. “Portal: Tornadoes/Anniversaries/December.” 12-27-2021 edit.

            —  2  Plantation prior to striking Clarkedale, AR

            —  4  Clarkedale, AR

            —  5  Plantations between Jonestown and Marks, MS

            —  1  Location not noted. Electrocution (man) when hosed stepped on downed power line.

—  1  Spencer, LA

–>5  Plantations near Spencer, possibly eight. 

—  8  Locations not noted “in the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Eve. [Dec 24].”

—     25  AP. “Tornado Claims a Number of Lives.” Abilene Daily Reporter, TX. 12-25-1921, p1.

—     25  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 493 and 776.

–11  Dec 23  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 493 and 776.

                        –06  16:00  60inj        170y  14m  F3             Crittenden County, AR. 

                        –05  23:45  60inj        200y           F2             Coahoma, Quitman counties, MS.

–14  Dec 24  Grazulis.  Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991. 1993, pp. 493 and 776.

                        –06  00:10  30inj        200y  25m  F3             Union, Morehouse parishes, LA. 

                        –03  03:00  8inj                    12m  F2             Leflore, Carroll counties, MS.           

                        –05  04:00  10inj                    4m  F2             Yazoo, Madison counties MS.           

Arkansas        (  6)

–6  Clarkedale. Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1921, p. 664.[2]

Louisiana       (14)

–7  Morehouse Parish. AP. “Louisiana Twister Fatal to Several.” 12-27-1921, p. 1.[3]

–7  Spencer, Union Parish. AP. “Louisiana Twister Fatal to Several.” 12-27-1921, p. 1.[4]

–1  Spencer. Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1921, p. 665.[5]

–1  Tisdale farm. Woman. Monthly Weather Review, Dec 1921, p. 665.[6]

Narrative Information

The American Review of Reviews, “Record of Current Events.” Vol. 65, Feb 1922, p. 139:

“December 24…Eastern Arkansas, northern Mississippi, and Louisiana are swept by a storm which kills forty-four persons, injures more than 100, and destroys $1,000,000 in property”

Wikipedia. “Portal: Tornadoes/Anniversaries/December.” 12-27-2021 edit:

“December 23…1921 – A significant tornado outbreak hit the Southeastern United States. An F3 tornado destroyed 40 tenant homes on a plantation, killing two people, before striking Clarkedale, Arkansas. There, four more died in a store while Christmas shopping. An F2 tornado killed five people on plantations between Jonestown and Marks, Mississippi. One other person died when his horse stepped on a downed power line. Just past midnight, another F3 tornado killed one person in Spencer, Louisiana and at least five others (possibly eight) on nearby plantations. Eight more people were killed by tornadoes in the pre-dawn hours of Christmas Eve.:

Newspapers

Dec 24: “Eastern Arkansas, Upper Mississippi and Louisiana Tornado Swept.

“New Orleans, La., Dec. 24. – The total death list due to the storm which struck late yesterday in eastern Arkansas and swept early today thru Northern Mississippi and Northwestern Louisiana stood tonight at 44, four whites and 40 negroes. More than 100 were injured, most of them negroes. No definite estimate of the property loss was available tonight but it was believed it would exceed $1,000,000. The deaths occurred as follows:

            Nine in Eastern Arkansas,

            27 in Northern Mississippi and

Eight in Louisiana.”

(Pueblo Chieftain, CO. “44 Dead, Scores Hurt in Storm.” 12-25-1921, p. 1.)

Dec 24, AP: “(By the Associated Press)

“New Orleans, Dec. 24 – Twenty-five dead, scores injured and huge property damage is the toll of a storm which struck eastern Arkansas last night and tore through upper Mississippi and Louisiana during the early hours of today, according to incomplete information from the devastated areas tonight. Wires are down…

“The village of Spencer, Union Parish, La., about 15 miles from Monroe was almost entirely leveled with a loss it is reported of one life.

“New Orleans, La., Dec. 24 – A storm which last night and early today swept both sides of the lower Mississippi river took a toll of 31 lives and injured about 70 persons, according to reports reaching here. The storm first struck in eastern Arkansas and continued southward, passed through northwest Mississippi and northeast Louisiana, sweeping a number of plantations and small farming communities.

“Reports from Monroe, Louisiana, announced the destruction of the village of Spencer in Union Parish, on the Monroe and Little Rock highway, with the loss of seven persons killed and 25 injured. Two plantations in the neighboring parishes of Moorehouse were struck and Mrs. Mary Spain, a white woman, and six negroes were killed and two children injured.

“Two plantations near Greenwood, Mississippi, were struck and 3 negroes are reported dead and a score injured.

“William Turner, white, and four negroes were killed when a plantation near Marks, Mississippi was swept.

“A dozen farming settlements in Crittenden county and the town of Clarkdale, Arkansas, were in the storm’s path, resulting in the death of Payne Harrison, in the collapse of a store building. Reports indicated that a score of persons were injured in that vicinity.” (Associated Press. “Tornado Claims a Number of Lives.” Abilene Daily Reporter, TX. 12-25-1921, p. 1.)

Dec 26: “New Orleans, Dec. 26. – The death list from the storm which Friday night and early Saturday morning swept through northeastern Arkansas, northwestern Mississippi and northeastern Louisiana today stood at 41 – three white men, one white woman, and 37 negroes. The number of injured persons still was undetermined….

“Spencer, La., a village which was wrecked by the storm, has been abandoned, all inhabitants having been taken by special train to Monroe, where the injured and homeless are being cared for. In some localities in Mississippi entire negro settlements were wiped out and the homeless are being cared for by their white neighbors.” (Mobile News-Item, AL. “Towns Begin To Climb Up From Debris.” 12-26-1921, p. 1.)

Dec 26: “Memphis, Tenn., Dec. 26. – With the injured and homeless cared for by the debris of the storm which swept a section of eastern Arkansas and northern Mississippi Friday and Saturday with a loss of 36 lives and the injury of 100 or more persons was being cleared away today and plans were being perfected for the immediate rebuilding of wrecked farm buildings on a score of plantations swept by the tornado.

“Approximately 50 of the injured still were being cared for today in hospitals here and in other cities. Several still were in a serious condition, but it was stated that all probably will recover….”

(Mobile News-Item, AL. “Emerging From Debris.” 12-26-1921, p. 1.)

Dec 27, AP: “Monroe, La., Dec. 27. – (AP) – One white woman and six negroes are reported to have been killed by a tornado which swept Morehouse Parish, near here, Saturday morning.

“Spencer, a little hamlet in Union Parish, was wiped out by the storm. Seven are reported killed and twenty-five injured. A special train bearing doctors and nurses left here for the scene of the disaster.” (Associated Press. “Louisiana Twister Fatal to Several.” Fairbanks News-Miner, AK. 12-27-1921, p. 1.)

Source

Associated Press. “Louisiana Twister Fatal to Several.” Fairbanks News-Miner, AK. 12-27-1921, p. 1. Accessed 5-6-2025 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/fairbanks-daily-news-miner-dec-27-1921-p-1/

Associated Press. “Tornado Claims a Number of Lives.” Abilene Daily Reporter, TX. 12-25-1921, p. 1. Accessed 5-5-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/abilene-daily-reporter-dec-25-1921-p-1/

Grazulis, Thomas P. Significant Tornadoes 1680-1991: A Chronology and Analysis of Events. St. Johnsbury, VE: Environmental Films, 1993, 1,326 pages.

Mobile News-Item, AL. “Emerging From Debris.” 12-26-1921, p. 1. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-mobile-news-item-dec-26-1921-p-1/

Mobile News-Item, AL. “Towns Begin To Climb Up From Debris.” 12-26-1921, p. 1. Accessed 5-5-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/the-mobile-news-item-dec-26-1921-p-1/

Monthly Weather Review (J. H. Scott). “The Clarkedale, Ark., Tornado of December 23, 1921.” Dec 1921, pp. 664-665. Accessed 5-6-2025 at:

https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/49/12/1520-0493_1921_49_664_tcatod_2_0_co_2.pdf

Monthly Weather Review (Ray A. Dyke). “Tornado of December 24, 1921, in Northeastern Louisiana.” Dec 1921, p. 665. Accessed 5-6-2025 at:

https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/49/12/1520-0493_1921_49_664_tcatod_2_0_co_2.pdf

Pueblo Chieftain, CO. “44 Dead, Scores Hurt in Storm.” 12-25-1921, p. 1. Accessed 5-5-2025 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/pueblo-chieftain-dec-25-1921-p-2/

The American Review of Reviews, “Record of Current Events…Other Occurrences of the Month.” Vol. 65, Feb 1922, p. 139. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=5L0GAQAAIAAJ&q=%22current%20events%22#v=onepage&q=tornado&f=false

Wikipedia. “December 1921…December 24, 1921 (Saturday).” 4-26-2025 edit. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_1921#cite_note-AROR122-34

Wikipedia. “Portal: Tornadoes/Anniversaries/December.” 12-27-2021 edit. Accessed 5-6-2025 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/December

[1] “Forty-four people were killed in tornadoes that swept across the U.S. states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi on Christmas Eve, and 100 more were injured.” Cites: The American Review of Reviews, Vol. 65, Feb 1922, pp. 135-139.

[2] Monthly Weather Review. “The Clarkedale, Ark., Tornado of December 23, 1921.” Dec 1921, p. 664.

[3] Associated Press. “Louisiana Twister Fatal to Several.” Fairbanks News-Miner, AK. 12-27-1921, p. 1.

[4] Associated Press. “Louisiana Twister Fatal to Several.” Fairbanks News-Miner, AK. 12-27-1921, p. 1.

[5] Monthly Weather Review (Dyke). “Tornado of December 24, 1921, in Northeastern Louisiana.” Dec 1921, p. 665.

[6] Monthly Weather Review (Dyke). “Tornado of December 24, 1921, in Northeastern Louisiana.” Dec 1921, p. 665.