Independence County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Independence County: 8.
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 26, 2009Ice Storm, Independence$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The sheriff's office reported 1 inch of ice across the county by 5:45 AM on the 27th. Ice caused tree limbs to sag and take out power lines in the Cave City and Pleasant Plains areas. A large oak tree split and fell on a roof in Independence County due to ice.

2. Mar 18, 2008Flood$20.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the White River at Batesville to go well above major flood level. The flood crest was the highest since December, 1982 and the second highest since the two upstream major flood reduction reservoirs were completed in the middle of the twentieth century. Water rose to within 2 feet of going over the U.S. Highway 167 road bed and more than 20 levee openings had to be stop logged closed. Portions of Batesville along Polk Bayou flooded and some of the business district near the river also flooded. Most of the town of Oil Tough was flooded and approximately 50 to 100 people had to be evacuated. Arkansas Highway 14 was closed near Oil Trough by high water. Riverside…

3. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Jackson County tornado moved into Independence County 7 miles south of Oil Trough at 331 pm CST. As the tornado tracked northeastward, it damaged several homes and downed a number of trees and power lines. The tornado exited Independence County 5.5 miles east-southeast of Oil Trough at 342 pm CST.

4. Sep 7, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Three hangars were destroyed and a couple of others were damaged by flying debris. Part of one hangar ended up in U.S. 167 adjacent to the airport, closing the highway until the debris could be removed. Additional debris ended up against a business and a truck across U.S. 167 from the airport. Four airplanes were damaged or destroyed. Power poles were blown down.

5. Apr 27, 2014Flash Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding struck several parts of Independence County, making numerous water rescues necessary. At least two feet of water covered Arkansas 233 at Moorefield, a mudslide occurred on Arkansas 25 near Brock Mountain, a car was under water at a convenience store in Pfeiffer, and a bridge was under water between Batesville and Moorefield on Arkansas 25 when a creek overflowed. County roads and bridges had considerable damage. A number of houses were damaged by floodwaters.

6. May 1, 2011Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Parts of Arkansas Highways 14, 37, and 69 were closed due to flooding. Flooding in Independence County continued into June.

7. Apr 10, 2008Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced significant rises on the upper White River and tributaries. The combination of high river flows and the excessive upstream reservoir releases caused a second major flood event at the Batesville gage. Homes and businesses were flooded for a second time in less than month in Batesville and Oil Trough. Additional damages were noted by the Southside Water Association due to excessive scour near the intake. The Batesville wastewater treatment plant also had some minor riverbank failure problems.

8. Mar 10, 2010Tornado$1.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   In the Maple Springs area, three new chicken houses were destroyed and six others were damaged. More than 80,000 chickens were killed or turned loose. A large grain truck was overturned onto a farm tractor. A mobile elevator was destroyed, as were two sheds. Two travel trailers were overturned.

9. Dec 25, 2012Winter Storm, Independence$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Batesville Livestock Experiment Station measured 11 inches of snow. Other reports included 10 inches at Desha (public report), 7 inches just south of Batesville (public report), and 7 inches at Batesville Lock and Dam (cooperative observer).

10. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Independence$750,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Wind gusts to 47 mph were recorded at the Batesville airport. City streets, county roads and highways had trees and power lines on them.

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 Jul 31, 1980

All-time low

−15°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

84°FJul 17, 1980

Coldest day

6°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

7.60 inApr 28, 2014

Snowiest day

9.0 inFeb 25, 1979

Hottest year

1954mean 62.3°F

Coldest year

2014mean 57.2°F

Wettest year

197387.60 in

Driest year

195427.81 in

Snowiest season

24.9 in1978-79

Station Batesville L&d 1 (USC00030460), 290 ft elevation, 1.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1951 to October 27, 2026; 92.4% 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 USC00030460.
• 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.