Columbia County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Columbia County: 3.
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.

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. Oct 11, 2001Flash Flood$120 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads closed from high water. The county was declared a disaster area due to the washed out roads and bridges. Nearly 8 inches of rain fell in less than 12 hours.

2. Dec 12, 2000Ice Storm, Columbia$40.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An arctic air mass spilled southward out of the central plains and into the lower Mississippi Valley. This cold, surface air mass was overrun by a warm humid air mass which combined with a strong upper level storm system across west Texas. the result was widespread freezing rain across all of southwest Arkansas. The precipitation was a mixture of freezing rain, sleet and some light snow northwest of a Texarkana to Prescott Arkansas line while further east the precipitation was all freezing rain. Ice accumulations of two to four inches were common. An estimated 235,000 residents lost electrical power due to ice covered power lines snapping or ice covered trees splitting and falling…

3. Apr 4, 1997Flash Flood$11.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding was reported across the entire city. The local hospital had one foot of water in it while water also entered numerous homes. Rainfall for a 24 hour period averaged just under twelve inches. Many roads and bridges were washed out resulting in 1 million dollars damage alone.

4. May 4, 1999Tornado$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two frame homes were demolished, several frame homes suffered roof damage, 1 church and 3 businesses suffered roof and frame damage. Many trees were snapped and uprooted. Damage estimates includes timber damage.

5. Oct 29, 2009Flash Flood$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous roads were closed in town and across the county from excessive heavy rainfall. Just some of the roads closed throughout the county included County Roads 7, 31, 38, 47, 60, 72, 204, 246 and 400. At the high of the storm, four dozen county and state roads had high water across them. Many of these roads were washed out as well and will need to be replaced along with adjacent culverts. Columbia County was declared a Federal Disaster Area because of the extreme flood and storm damage that ensued during the month of October.

6. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Columbia$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Tropical Storm Ike resulted in widespread trees and power lines downed throughout all of Nevada County, Arkansas. Power outages were widespread as well with numerous residents without power during the height of the storm and days afterward. Trees were reported down on three homes across the county as well. There were no injuries reported.

7. Oct 29, 2009Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Another EF1 tornado touched down on the northeast side of Magnolia, Arkansas. The tornado touched down on CR 47 about one quarter of a mile east of Hwy. 79. Some significant to major damage was observed to several mobile homes and powerlines and poles were snapped. A residential shop was also damaged by fallen trees. Winds were estimated at 95-105 mph.

8. Apr 4, 1997Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down 1 mile southwest of Cotton Valley in Webster Parish, LA., and moved northeast past Shangaloo into Columbia County, AR., 7 miles southwest of Emerson. The tornado snapped numerous trees and damaged one home.

9. May 4, 1999Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A supercell developed under favourable atmospheric conditions. A partial roof was removed from a frame home. One mobile home was heavily damaged. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. Damage estimates include timber damage.

10. Apr 4, 1999Flash Flood$140,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Numerous county roads were under 4 to 6 feet of water. One small bridge was washed out.

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°F2 times, most recently Aug 31, 2000

All-time low

−10°FJan 12, 1962

Warmest night

83°FSep 6, 1930

Coldest day

14°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

10.65 inApr 26, 1958

Snowiest day

15.2 inDec 22, 1929

Hottest year

1921mean 68.1°F

Coldest year

1968mean 61.0°F

Wettest year

197477.87 in

Driest year

200528.38 in

Station El Dorado Goodwin Field (USW00093992), 256 ft elevation, 25.2 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to October 26, 2026; 99.7% 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 USW00093992.
• 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.