Boone County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Boone County most?

The most frequent records are hail reports: 198 since 1967. 46% of its hail reports since 1967 fell in March and April. 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 Boone County had?

NOAA records 18 tornadoes in Boone County from 1961 to 2024, the strongest rated EF3, with 2 deaths and 69 injuries recorded in the county. 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 17 tornadoes whose track touched Boone County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 18: they file a crossing tornado once per county segment, and the two databases differ on some tracks); along their whole tracks they killed 5 people, 2 of them in Boone County.

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 Boone County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the May 26, 2024 tornado (1 death and 1 injury).

The Boone-Marion County tornado began just to the west of Bellefonte Road, near the intersection of Maxie Camp Road in Boone County, damaging trees and a few power poles as it crossed the road. A few homes sustained some damage, mainly to their roofs and the southern and southeastern exterior walls. A hay barn was also completely destroyed. The tornado then kept moving east into an open field, snapping trees in its path and along Maxie Camp Road. The tornado crossed US Highway 65, moving over the Boone County Sheriff's Department Building and an Arkansas State Police Troop Center. The two buildings sustained very minor damage, mainly consisting of missing shingles and bent light poles. A loaded trailer of the Boone County Sheriff's Department was lofted onto a gate, and then further tossed onto an Arkansas State Patrol car, both sustaining major damage. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1181735)

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 Boone 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?

46% of its hail reports since 1967 fell in March and April. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Boone County

FEMA's register lists 23 declarations that include Boone County: 15 major disasters, 8 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (10) 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 Boone County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 43 flood or flash flood records for Boone County from 1998 to 2026, on 39 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Boone County ranks 1838th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $485,000 on 35 claims filed in Boone County; the most in one year was 13 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 Boone County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Boone County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $21.5 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 Boone County

1. Taney County, MO 859
2. Boone County 638
3. Marion County 567
4. Newton County 535
5. Carroll County 514
6. Searcy County 478

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
• Hail in ArkansasThe state's hail reports, 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 Boone CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Boone County's FEMA declarations (CSV)23 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis