Lawrence County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Lawrence County: 1.
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. May 1, 2017Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain brought the Black River at Black Rock to just under record levels in early May. Homes and businesses suffered minor damage from the flooding. Many road and bridges were also flooded and damaged. Thousands of acres of cropland was also flooded. The Lawrence County Dive team performed 14 rescues in the first couple days of May. They rescued people from their vehicle on County Road 514 on May 2nd. The dive team rescued two people from a home on May 3rd.

2. Mar 18, 2008Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flooding along the Black River and it's tributaries. Numerous roads were closed due to the high water including Arkansas 115, Arkansas 117, U.S. Highway 63 from Hoxie to the Sharp County line, Arkansas 25, and U.S. Highway 412. County Roads 106 and 107 received damage from the flooding as well. Twenty-five homes were destroyed and forty received major damage. Many cabins and other dwellings received damage as well. Lawrence County was declared a state disaster area.

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

   Heavy rain in March produced flooding along the Black River and it's tributaries. Numerous roads were closed due to the high water including Arkansas 115, Arkansas 117, U.S. Highway 63 from Hoxie to the Sharp County line, Arkansas 25, and U.S. Highway 412. County Roads 106 and 107 received damage from the flooding as well. By the beginning of April, twenty-five homes were destroyed and forty received major damage. Many cabins and other dwellings received damage as well. Lawrence County was declared a state disaster area.

4. May 3, 2017Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Black River levee east of Pocahontas suffered several breaches during the early morning hours of May 3rd. The water flowed south along the Big Running Water Creek and eventually flooded parts of Lawrence County. Highway 63 was closed between Portia and Walnut Ridge. Water flowing over the highway damaged the shoulders. Roads leading into Clover Bend were flooded and several houses in the area had water inside them.

5. Dec 3, 2002Ice Storm, Lawrence$1.1 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.

6. Sep 23, 2006Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused flash flooding along the Spring River. People had to be rescued from homes along the river. Six homes were damaged by the flood waters. Some crop damage also occurred from the flooding. Near Imboden and Ravenden, farmers reported a loss more than 500 bales of hay due to rising waters. In addition, more than 150 head of cattle were killed by flood waters. Some farm equipment, vehicles, and campers was also damaged from flood water or swept away by the rising flood waters. Black Rock was also especially hit hard by the flooding.

7. Apr 28, 2014Flash Flood$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain flooded several roadways in the Walnut Ridge area. Several county roads were washed out.

8. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved into extreme northwest Craighead county from Jackson county. While in Craighead county, the tornado damaged a house injuring 2 persons inside the structure. The tornado then moved into the southeast corner of Lawrence county. There it damaged 13 homes and buildings including a grain bin which stored a large supply of rice. One mobile home was rolled over injuring 2 persons. Numerous trees were blown down as well. The tornado moved into Greene county where it occasionally lifted off the ground as the storm moved northeast. The most severe damage occurred near Marmaduke where 20 homes and buildings were damaged or destroyed. One man was killed when his business was…

9. Apr 27, 2014Flash Flood$488,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused flash flooding between Imboden and Black Rock. Highway 63 was flooded.

10. Apr 10, 2016Dust Storm, Lawrence$300,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Multiple injuries reported due to car accidents on Highway 63 in eastern Lawrence County and in the city of Walnut Ridge.

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°FAug 9, 1934

All-time low

−22°FFeb 13, 1899

Warmest night

89°FJun 16, 1922

Coldest day

6°FJan 12, 1918

Wettest day

7.25 inMar 28, 1975

Snowiest day

11.0 inFeb 25, 1979

Hottest year

1921mean 63.7°F

Coldest year

2014mean 55.7°F

Wettest year

201174.22 in

Driest year

190125.81 in

Snowiest season

33.8 in1984-85

Station Pocahontas 1 (USC00035820), 315 ft elevation, 14.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1871 to September 10, 2026; 96.3% 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 USC00035820.
• 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.