Benton

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Saline County, the county that contains Benton.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Saline County, the county that contains Benton.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Saline County, the county that contains Benton.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The thunderstorm that produced the tornado across Clark and Hot Spring County earlier spawned another tornado in Saline County. The tornado touched down 5 miles southeast of Benton and traveled northeastward, damaging a number of homes and downing numerous trees and power lines. As the tornado approached Shannon Hills, the tornado expanded to 0.8 mile wide. Dozens of homes were either damaged or destroyed in the area around the Shannon Hills, Vimy Ridge and Sardis communities. 10 people were killed, with most victims inside their homes when the storm hit.The tornado exhibited characteristics of F2 to F3 strength prior to moving into the Shannon Hills area. After that, the tornado…

2. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another tornado formed just south of the main tornado track near Shannon Hills. The tornado was on the ground for approximately 2 miles. Several homes sustained damage. A number of trees were also blown down, as well as several high voltage electrical towers. Much of the damage was mostly F1. However, damage to the high voltage transmission towers was consistent with an F2 rating.

3. Apr 3, 2008Tornado$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado began northwest of Bryant and ended northwest of Alexander. The tornado caused major damage in the Hurricane Meadows subdivision, and then continued on to the northeast. Altogether, six houses were destroyed, and approximately 30 others suffered varying degrees of damage.

4. Dec 25, 2012Winter Storm, Saline$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The cooperative observer at Alum Fork measured 11 inches of snow, while a CoCoRaHS observer near Benton measured 8.5 inches. Public reports included 11 inches near Salem and 8 inches at Sardis.

5. Apr 3, 2008Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado began west of Haskell and continued on to just west of Benton. The tornado destroyed nine houses and three mobile homes, caused major damage to approximately 16 houses and one mobile home, and minor damage to approximately 40 houses and one mobile home. One house that was under construction had all its framing completed and was ready for shingles to be put on. The tornado blew all the framing lumber down a hillside, but the concrete safe room that had been constructed remained intact. Many power lines and some power poles were blown down. Thousands of trees were blown down.

6. Apr 3, 2008Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado began on the northeast side of Benton and ended on the northwest side of Bryant. The tornado caused major damage to four houses and minor damage to 20 houses. It also traveled through the Hurricane Lake Mobile Home Park, destroying 22 mobile homes, and causing major damage to 11 mobile homes, and minor damage to 10 mobile homes. Major damage occurred at a car dealership on Interstate 30, where more than 150 vehicles were damaged, many of which had windshields or rear windows blown out. Diagonally across the interstate from the car dealership, a lumber yard suffered substantial damage.

7. Sep 2, 2008Tropical Depression, Saline$4.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large tree fell onto a power line along U.S. Highway 167 in East End. Five houses had moderate to major damage from trees falling on them. Approximately 47 trees had to be removed from roadways across the county. A tree fell on Cross Street in Benton.

8. Apr 30, 2010Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado exited Grant County northwest of Ico and re-entered Saline County south of Sardis. The tornado traveled through the East End community, causing EF2 damage. A Red Cross survey of the damage indicated: 4 houses and 11 mobile homes destroyed, 11 houses and 3 mobile homes with major damage, 26 houses and 4 mobile homes with minor damage, and 16 houses and 13 mobile homes affected. A fire station in East End was destroyed and part of the roof was torn off a church. Two businesses also suffered damage. In addition, numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Eight people were injured. The tornado exited Saline County northeast of East End and entered Pulaski County…

9. May 1, 2011Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Areal flooding was widespread in Arkansas, beginning early in May. The flooding was caused by large amounts of rain on April 30th, and May 1st and 2nd; high water flowing down from Missouri; and backwater flooding from rivers and large creeks and bayous. The Mississippi River was also experiencing unusually high stages, causing the White and Arkansas Rivers to back up near the rivers' confluence. Arkansas Farm Bureau estimated that more than 1 million acres of farmland were under water in the state. The flooding lasted well into May in many counties, and even into June in some of the counties in eastern Arkansas.

10. Dec 23, 2009Flash Flood$2.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    Widespread heavy rain on the evening of the 23rd led to the development of flash flooding. Numerous county roads were blocked due to flooding. One subdivision in Haskell was flooded.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

112°FJul 31, 1986

All-time low

−17°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

88°F2 times, most recently Jun 10, 1998

Coldest day

10°FJan 6, 1942

Wettest day

9.75 inSep 14, 1978

Snowiest day

12.0 inJan 7, 1988

Hottest year

2012mean 65.5°F

Coldest year

1940mean 57.9°F

Wettest year

197380.66 in

Driest year

193629.30 in

Snowiest season

19.6 in1959-60

Station Benton (USC00030582), 346 ft elevation, 1.7 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 27, 2026; 89.4% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Saline County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USC00030582.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.