Nevada County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Nevada County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 142 since 1956. 40% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in May and June. 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 Nevada County had?

NOAA records 24 tornadoes in Nevada County from 1954 to 2026, the strongest rated F3, with 0 deaths and 6 injuries recorded in the county. That is 36th 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 24 tornadoes whose track touched Nevada County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 24, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 1 person, 0 of them in Nevada 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 Nevada County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the March 7, 2026 tornado (1 injury and $100,000 in damage in 2025 dollars).

During the early morning hours on March 7th, a severe thunderstorm produced an EF2 tornado with estimated maximum winds of 125 mph just west of Willisville in Southern Nevada County, Arkansas. This storm also had a history of producing an earlier tornado in East Texas. The first sign of damage from the tornado was seen just south of the intersection of Highway 32 and County Road 9 near a large open field. The tornado brought down multiple large trees before heading northeast through the large open field. On the far northeast corner of the field is where tree damage picked up again, before tracking across Highway 32 just to the west of County Road 17. The more significant damage was found near County Road 122, County Road 17, and County Road 1702, where numerous structures sustained damage. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1326480)

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 Nevada 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).

Winter storms in the 2010s: 20 records against 6 in the decade before, 20 of them forecast-zone records. Cells marked z rose mostly through zone records. The local National Weather Service office files these once per forecast zone, so a change in how it draws its zones or splits a storm into records moves this count as much as the weather does; read it beside the Nevada County days with a record above.

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

What time of year?

40% of its severe thunderstorm wind events since 1956 fell in May and June. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Nevada County

FEMA's register lists 26 declarations that include Nevada County: 20 major disasters, 6 emergencies and 0 fire management assistance declarations. Most were for severe storm (14) and winter storm (2).

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 Nevada County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 44 flood or flash flood records for Nevada County from 1998 to 2025, on 22 days, with 1 death. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Nevada County ranks 2830th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $5,209 on 1 claim filed in Nevada County; the most in one year was 1 in 2010. 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 Nevada County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Nevada County Very Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $5.7 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 Nevada County

1. Clark County 756
2. Hempstead County 730
3. Columbia County 637
4. Lafayette County 599
5. Ouachita County 597
6. Pike County 546
7. Nevada County 509

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 Nevada CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Nevada County's FEMA declarations (CSV)26 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis