Arkansas County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Arkansas County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 220 since 1959. The rank column places the county among Arkansas's counties by days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land over each hazard's complete period.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (county and forecast-zone records attributed to the county; a zone record shows its own totals on each county it covers). Days: dates with at least one record of the hazard in the county. Ranks: days with a record per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer), since 1950 for tornadoes, 1955 for hail and thunderstorm wind, 1996 for the rest.

How many tornadoes has Arkansas County had?

NOAA records 49 tornadoes in Arkansas County from 1950 to 2026, the strongest rated EF3, with 0 deaths and 30 injuries recorded in the county. That is 28th of 75 Arkansas counties by days with tornadoes per 1,000 square miles since 1950. A tornado that crossed a county line is counted in each county it touched, with the length of its path inside the county.

Counted as whole tornadoes rather than county records, the Storm Prediction Center's database holds 48 tornadoes whose track touched Arkansas County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 49: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 0 people.

Map of the strongest tornado tracks in Arkansas.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, tornado records by county (path length in the county, maximum width); ratings as published: F scale before February 1, 2007, EF scale after. Whole-track figures: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database (1950-2025). SPC severe weather database.

When was the last damaging storm in Arkansas County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 5, 2022 thunderstorm wind ($101,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

This powerful microburst destroyed a large, well-built metal storage building. The buildiing was anchored at 10 points with concrete around each post, and it appears initial damage on one side of the building caused the interior of the building to become exposed to the wind. The structural soundness of the building allowed wind energy to build up inside until the entire structure was violently lifted from the ground. Aside from minor shingle damage to a nearby roof, surrounding structures were undamaged. Debris from the metal building was carried approximately 700 yards downstream with evidence of ground scarring, indicating winds were strong enough to cause heavy debris to tumble. There was a narrow damage swath on the order of 150 yards in width.
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1028738)

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; every record of 2025-2026 is listed, earlier ones when they caused deaths, injuries or $250,000 of damage (2025 dollars), and every tornado.

The deadliest and costliest records

A damage figure marked "step" is a record from before 1993: NOAA then filed damage by category, and the figure is the category as entered, in the dollars of that year, not an estimate of the loss.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths and injuries direct and indirect; damage is property plus crops as estimated by the National Weather Service, converted to 2025 dollars.

Is it getting more frequent?

Records per decade for Arkansas County's most frequent hazards. Counts rose everywhere after 1996, when NOAA began recording every event type, so compare decades within a hazard's complete period only (the shaded cells come before it).

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records per calendar decade; zone records from the CZ_TYPE field (Z).

What time of year?

Records by month in Arkansas County. The two busiest months are in violet.

Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began.

Federal disaster declarations for Arkansas County

FEMA's register lists 20 declarations that include Arkansas County: 13 major disasters, 7 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (7) and flood (4).

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), declarations through October 2, 2026; one declaration is counted once however many areas it names. OpenFEMA dataset page.

How many floods has Arkansas County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 66 flood or flash flood records for Arkansas County from 1997 to 2025, on 55 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Arkansas County ranks 1366th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $1.4 million on 89 claims filed in Arkansas County; the most in one year was 24 in 2011. Claims count insured losses only: uninsured flood damage is not in this file.

Source: FEMA OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims, as of September 8, 2026; claims by year of loss, payments in the dollars of the year paid. OpenFEMA dataset page.

FEMA's modeled risk for Arkansas County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Arkansas County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $16.2 million. These are FEMA's model estimates of future loss from 18 hazards, not a count of what happened; they can differ from the record above.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, county table, December 2025 release. FEMA's National Risk Index map.

Counties that share a border with Arkansas County

1. Lonoke County 976
2. Jefferson County 793
3. Arkansas County 587
4. Prairie County 503
5. Monroe County 449
6. Phillips County 409
7. Desha County 359
8. Lincoln County 336

Source: U.S. Census Bureau county adjacency file; NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1950. The Census Bureau's adjacency file.

Next

• Tornadoes in ArkansasEvery Arkansas tornado since 1950 and the counties with the most per square mile
• Severe thunderstorm wind in ArkansasThe state's severe thunderstorm wind events, by county, year and month
• The Arkansas recordEvery hazard in the state, its deadliest events and its federal declarations
• FEMA's risk rating for each hazard in Arkansas CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Arkansas County's FEMA declarations (CSV)20 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis