Izard County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Izard County: 4.
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.

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, Izard$50.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The sheriff's office reported 1/4 inch of ice across the county by 5:30 AM on the 27th.

2. Mar 18, 2008Flood$12.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the White River at Calico Rock to go well above major flood level. The river crested less than a foot lower than the December, 1982 flood crest, but there has been substantial development in the floodplain during the last 25 years. Water was covering Arkansas Highways 5 and 56. The foot bridges that crossed Calico Creek were washed out. Water got into the lower units of a motel, into a business in Peppersauce Alley, buildings on Chesmond Landing, and many houses. At least 20 homes in Mt. Olive and 13 in Guion were flooded or totally washed away. Over 40 homes sustained some degree of damage and about 20 were washed away by the floodwaters. There was a fishing…

3. Feb 5, 2008Tornado$11.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved out of Stone County, northeast of Mountain View, into Izard County, just northwest of Guion. A survey by the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicated 106 residential structures (houses and mobile homes) suffered damage. This included 43 residences destroyed, 14 with major damage, 36 with minor damage, and 13 others affected. A cattle farmer lost hundreds of cattle to the tornado. Two fatalities occurred: One in a mobile home in the Rose Trail area, and the other in a mobile home at Zion. The tornado continued into Sharp County, in the area northwest of Evening Shade.

4. Apr 14, 1996Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Stone County tornado moved into Izard County at Sylamore at 739 pm CDT. The tornado destroyed several cabins. Luckily, the cabins were evacuated before the tornado arrived. Just east of the cabins, the tornado moved into a small subdivision where several homes were damaged and one destroyed. Two occupants in the destroyed home were thrown several hundred feet and killed. The storm continued to track northeastward along Highway 9, where isolated damage was noted. The tornado reached Melbourne around 800 pm CDT, damaging or destroying a number of homes and businesses. A Ford dealership was destroyed with a number of new cars totalled. A housing project and local community…

5. Apr 26, 2011Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread areal flooding occurred. On the 27th, a Missouri and Northern Arkansas train derailed after hitting a track washout near Twin Creek. The locomotive and one car fell into the White River.

6. Apr 10, 2013Thunderstorm Wind$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Most of the thunderstorm wind damage was close to the shore of Crown Lake, but several houses near Diamond Lake also sustained damage. Altogether, 41 houses were damaged. Of this number, 3 were destroyed and 8 had major damage. The remaining 30 houses had lesser amounts of damage. One woman was injured when a brick wall of her home collapsed inward.

7. May 1, 2011Flood$1.5 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.

8. Mar 18, 2008Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Low lying roads, bridges, and low water crossings were flooded. Arkansas Highway 56 was closed briefly between Calico Rock and Brockwell due to flooding.

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

   Cooperative observers measured 7 inches of snow at Calico Rock and 6 inches at Melbourne.

10. Mar 5, 1996Tornado$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado first touched down 7 miles southwest of Melbourne. It moved east-northeastward, passing near the small community of Lunerburg, where it damaged and destroyed some homes and other structures. The tornado continued moving east-northeastward and hit the town of Mount Pleasant. A number of homes, mobile homes and other buildings were either damaged or destroyed. 2 people in Mount Pleasant sustained minor injuries. Numerous trees and power lines were also blown down along the tornado's path. The tornado exited Izard County about 3 1/2 miles northeast of Mount Pleasant at 815 pm.Damage along the track of the tornado was mostly F2. However, some structural damage was…

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

114°FAug 10, 1934

All-time low

−20°FJan 13, 1918

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Jul 30, 2022

Coldest day

9°FJan 15, 2024

Wettest day

8.00 inAug 11, 1913

Snowiest day

14.0 inJan 11, 1918

Hottest year

1921mean 62.5°F

Coldest year

2014mean 54.5°F

Wettest year

194575.92 in

Driest year

198024.77 in

Snowiest season

26.0 in1978-79

Station Calico Rock 2 Wsw (USC00031132), 359 ft elevation, 14.1 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1915 to October 27, 2026; 98.3% 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 USC00031132.
• 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.