Union County, Arkansas

What hazards hit Union County most?

The most frequent records are severe thunderstorm wind events: 231 since 1955. 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 Union County had?

NOAA records 45 tornadoes in Union County from 1950 to 2023, the strongest rated EF3, with 3 deaths and 30 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 45 tornadoes whose track touched Union County since 1950 (NOAA's county records number 45, the same count); along their whole tracks they killed 5 people, 3 of them in Union 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 Union County?

The most recent record with damage, injuries or deaths is the June 18, 2023 tornado ($1.9 million in damage in 2025 dollars).

During the evening hours on Sunday, June 18th, a strong thunderstorm developed about 12 miles to the northeast of El Dorado, Arkansas in Union County. Shortly after forming, the storm became severe and started to rotate. The storm went on to produce an EF-2 tornado, touching down near the Cypress Creek Oil Field to the north of Moro Bay Highway near Stowe Ditch Road. At this location, there were numerous trees either snapped or uprooted from winds around 80 to 85 mph. As the tornado tracked to the southeast towards Moro Bay Highway, it strengthened some which was evident from the more widespread tree damage. As it crossed Moro Bay Highway, it did not cause any major damage to structures despite there being some along the path. From there, the road network became sparse, but some additional tree damage was observed along Feldmann Road to the southeast of Moro Bay Highway. …
National Weather Service event narrative, NOAA Storm Events Database (search the full record, event 1115538)

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 Union 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 Union County. The two busiest months are in violet.

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

Federal disaster declarations for Union County

FEMA's register lists 21 declarations that include Union County: 14 major disasters, 6 emergencies and one fire management assistance declaration. Most were for flood (6) and severe storm (5).

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 Union County had?

NOAA's Storm Events Database holds 67 flood or flash flood records for Union County from 1996 to 2025, on 42 days, with 0 deaths. By flood insurance claims since 1978 (OpenFEMA, as of September 8, 2026), Union County ranks 1144th of 2,942 U.S. counties.

The National Flood Insurance Program has paid $2.1 million on 137 claims filed in Union County; the most in one year was 31 in 1991. 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 Union County

FEMA's National Risk Index rates Union County Relatively Low overall, with an expected annual loss of $12.6 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 Union County

1. Union Parish, LA 858
2. Union County 694
3. Columbia County 637
4. Claiborne Parish, LA 599
5. Ouachita County 597
6. Morehouse Parish, LA 578
7. Ashley County 549
8. Calhoun County 376
9. Bradley County 365

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 Union CountyThe hazard risk calculator: 18 hazards beside the county's record
• Download Union County's FEMA declarations (CSV)21 rows: every declaration that named the county, for your own analysis