Clay County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Clay County: 2.
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.

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.

River crests

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.

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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 21, 1999Tornado$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado developed east of Datto and moved northeast. Several homes were badly damaged. Several hangars were destroyed and some planes were destroyed at the Corning airport.

2. Sep 1, 2012Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado briefly touched down southwest of the Corning Municipal Airport and traveled northeast across the northern portion of the airport. Two hangars were extensively damaged with a few others receiving minor damage. Many of the aircraft that were housed inside the hangar were heavily damaged as well. Two homes near the airport had windows blown out and a shed had the roof blown off. The tornado continued northeast crossing Highway 67. Power poles along the highway were knocked down. A clear path was seen in the bean field north of Highway 67. The tornado lifted near County Road 135. Large amounts of debris were found nearly 1.5 miles away from the airfield with one 930 pound…

3. Dec 3, 2002Ice Storm, Clay$2.7 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mix of freezing rain and sleet fell on much of northeast Arkansas. The icy conditions brought down many trees,power poles and power lines. One man was killed in Lawrence county when a power line fell on him. In Greene county, a church in Paragould was damaged by a fire that was caused when a tree limb fell on a nearby power line, causing a short in the church's electricity. The ice storm left thousands of residents without power. Some residents went more than a week without power.

4. May 1, 2011Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain brought the Black River near Corning to record levels in late April that continued into the beginning of May. The record crest surpassed the Flood of 1945. Shallow flooding extended for several miles away from the river. Several homes and businesses sustained minor damage from the flooding. Many roads and bridges were closed and/or damaged including Highway 62, Highway 67 and Highway 155. The Clay County Airport was flooded as well.

5. May 1, 2011Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain during late April into the beginning of May caused the St. Francis River to rise above flood stage. The river rose to near record levels in the beginning of May and remained above flood stage through the end of May. A break in the levee in Butler County, Missouri, north of Clay County, caused some concern that additional flood water would move into Clay County. However, the water never made it into Clay County. A few homes sustained minor damage. Several roads were closed and/or sustained damage. Several hundred acres of cropland was flooded. A man drowned when his boat capsized in the flood waters.

6. Apr 26, 2011Flood$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain brought the Black River near Corning to record levels in late April that continued into the beginning of May. The record crest surpassed the Flood of 1945. Shallow flooding extended for several miles away from the river. Several homes and businesses sustained minor damage from the flooding. Many roads and bridges were closed and/or damaged including Highway 62, Highway 67 and Highway 155. The Clay County Airport was flooded as well.

7. May 1, 2017Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Current River experienced a record flood upstream at Doniphan, MO in early May. The water moved downstream and caused the evacuation of Success, AR on May 1st. Highways 328 and 211 were flooded along with thousands of acres of farmland. The swiftness of the water deposited large amounts of sand and gravel across much of the farmland. Highway 67 south of Corning was flooded.

8. Jan 21, 1999Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started southeast of Knobel and tracked northeast. The most serious damage occurred early in the life of the tornado. Two homes were destroyed on County Road 238. Several other homes were damaged. Two trailer trucks were rolled over. As the tornado continued east it gradually diminished in intensity. Several trees and power lines were knocked down along the way.

9. Jan 26, 2009Ice Storm, Clay$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two inches of ice fell across Clay County along with an additional inch of snow. Widespread power outages occurred. One shelter was opened in Piggott. Roads impassable.

10. Apr 28, 2014Flash Flood$685,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Several highway were flooded across Clay County. Heavy rain flooded Highway 62 in Northeast Arkansas. The highway was closed at the Missouri State line. Highway 119, Highway 90, Highway 49 and Highway 139 were also 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

113°F3 times, most recently Jun 20, 1936

All-time low

−25°FFeb 12, 1899

Warmest night

88°FJul 15, 1954

Coldest day

5°FFeb 12, 1899

Wettest day

7.52 inSep 23, 2006

Snowiest day

25.0 inJan 22, 1918

Hottest year

1921mean 62.5°F

Coldest year

1904mean 56.5°F

Wettest year

194572.64 in

Driest year

196329.85 in

Snowiest season

30.5 in1984-85

Station Corning (USC00031632), 246 ft elevation, 12.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00031632.
• 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.