Ashley County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Ashley County: 6.
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.

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.

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Sep 3, 2008Flash Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Persistent heavy rains occurred from weakening Hurricane Gustav and dumped 8 to 12 inches of rain across the county. This heavy rainfall caused many roads to flood along with several homes taking in water.||Agriculture was especially hard hit as all of the farmland was flooded. In some cases, entire crops were lost or were substantially damaged where yields were very low.

2. Jan 11, 2020Tornado$2.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado started just northeast of Hamburg along Ashley 70 Road and tracked roughly 20 miles to just east of Montrose in Chicot County. Thousands of trees were uprooted and snapped along the path along with numerous power lines and poles downed. Some of the heaviest damage was to a mobile home just off Ashley 129 Road. The home was thrown 15 to 20 feet and destroyed. Another mobile home was destroyed along Ashley 128 Road. The tornado then crossed Highway 82 near Ashley 301 Road. Power poles were broken here and a tractor shed was heavily damaged. From this point, the tornado mostly paralleled Highway 82 or tracked along it. Many power lines were down along with poles. Just…

3. Nov 24, 2001Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado that moved out of Morehouse Parish, Louisiana into Ashley County, Arkansas, 6 miles southwest of Wilmot. The tornado then moved to the south end of Lake Enterprise, just west of Wilmot. The tornado strengthened and widened as it approached the Wilmot area and was rated as an F3 with a maximum width of one half mile. The tornado destroyed 14 mobile homes and houses and caused extensive damage to five other homes in the vicinity of Wilmot. A church on the north side of Wilmot was completely destroyed. Additionally, a tractor shed housing farm equipment was destroyed, and the equipment inside was also destroyed. As the tornado tracked…

4. Jun 18, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A destructive thunderstorm complex produced widespread damaging winds across Ashley County. While much of the county experienced severe wind gusts at or above 60 mph, a corridor of higher gusts in the 70 to 100 mph range occurred along a swath from near Crossett and Hamburg to the southeast. Most trees sustained some degree of damage, and many were uprooted or snapped. Approximately 20 to 30 homes were damaged or destroyed by fallen trees, and some residences and businesses lost some shingles and roof covering. Treefall also resulted in numerous power line and power pole failures. A tree also fell onto a substation in Hamburg. Between Crossett and Hamburg, tubular steel power…

5. Feb 5, 2008Hail$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant hail storm occurred across a large portion of Ashley County as a large supercell thunderstorm tracked from just south of Crossett to just south of Hamburg and then to around Jerome. Golf ball sized hail was common and covered the ground all along the path. A few locations, mainly just south of Hamburg, the hail was as large as baseballs. This very large hail caused a great deal of damage to dozens of vehicle and roofs. The supercell continued to produce damaging hail as it moved past Jerome and across northern Chicot County.

6. Dec 22, 1998Ice Storm, Ashley$900,000
7. Jan 11, 2020Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado started just west of Highway 133 near Ashley 181 Road and traveled roughly eastward to just east of Highway 425 where it dissipated north of Hamburg. At the start, scattered trees were damaged. As the tornado approached Highway 133, intensity increased and more were snapped and uprooted. A few power lines were down as well. Along Highway 133, two areas of focused damage were noted. One area had a few dozen trees uprooted and one large tree was on a mobile home. The other area was at the Trinity Church, where some roof damage occurred to the main building and the covered walkway was blown away. Numerous trees were uprooted and snapped along Ashley 497 Road and the…

8. Jan 8, 2006Wildfire, Ashley$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large wildfire burned Sunday afternoon and evening across Central Ashley county. This fire burned nearly 6000 acres just southeast of Hamburg. Four homes were burned along with two camping trailers and 2 outbuildings. This large fire caused the closing of Highway 8 for a period of time. Another wildfire developed south of Crossett. This fire actually started in Louisiana and moved into Arkansas. This fire burned nearly 2000 acres.These wildfires were the product of several months of extremely dry weather across the region. The combination of prolonged dry conditions and dead/dormant vegetation lead to high fire fuel across the region. As the fires began, low relative humidity…

9. Sep 1, 2008Tropical Storm, Ashley$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical storm force winds occurred across Ashley County as the outer edges of Hurricane Gustav moved across central Louisiana. Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down and blocked area roads. Wind gusts peaked between 40 and 50 mph.

10. Mar 9, 2006Thunderstorm Wind$700,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A potent squall line of thunderstorms moved across Ashley county and caused widespread damage, especially across southern and eastern sections of the county. As the squall line moved through, a small segment of the line pushed out ahead of the line. This "bow segment" caused extensive damage along a swath from just south of Crossett to near Portland. The most significant damaged occurred just south and southeast of Crossett. Along the damage swath, numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Several structures sustained damage along with a few outbuildings blown away.

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

110°FAug 17, 1909

All-time low

−4°FJan 19, 1930

Warmest night

87°FJul 9, 1998

Coldest day

14°FJan 16, 2024

Wettest day

10.08 inMar 10, 2016

Snowiest day

12.5 inDec 22, 1929

Hottest year

1921mean 68.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 60.6°F

Wettest year

201985.75 in

Driest year

201030.08 in

Snowiest season

21.5 in1929-30

Station Portland (USC00035866), 128 ft elevation, 22.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1909 to October 27, 2026; 94.4% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USC00035866.
• 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.