Montgomery County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Montgomery County: 0.
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.

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. Jun 11, 2010Flash Flood$9.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain fell on saturated ground during the wee hours of June 11th in an area characterized by steep terrain, limited access, and poor communications. Along the Little Missouri River, flash flooding developed rapidly at the Albert Pike Recreation Area in the Ouachita National Forest. The flood took 20 lives, injured 24, and necessitated the rescue of more than 60 people.||The nearest river gage indicated that flood waters rose more than 20 feet in 4 hours.||Motor homes, camping trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, tents, and people and their possessions were all caught up in the flood. Vehicles were washed downstream, asphalt was torn off roads, and boulders rolled down nearby steep…

2. Dec 25, 2012Winter Storm, Montgomery$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cooperative observers measured 10 inches of snow at Pine Ridge and Oden, 9.6 inches at Mount Ida, and 8 inches at Hopper.

3. Apr 30, 2017Heavy Rain$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several bridges and roads have been washed out. There was a mud slide on Manford Rd. between Norman and Caddo Gap. Rain measured was 5.75 inches.

4. May 1, 2011Flood$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A Boy Scout troop, which had been cut off by flooding at the Albert Pike Recreation Area on the Little Missouri River on the 1st, was rescued by a National Guard helicopter on the morning of the 3rd. The six scouts and two adults were not injured.

5. May 30, 2013Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Brushy Creek washed a house off its foundation about 3.8 miles west-northwest of Pencil Bluff. The house finally stopped moving when it ran up against a tree line. The occupants of the house survived. U.S. 270 flooded near Pencil Bluff and Arkansas 8 flooded near Norman. Numerous county roads were flooded. For the 24-hour period ending at 7 AM on the 31st, Oden measured 6.13 inches of rain and Pine Ridge collected 5.98 inches. At the Mount Ida airport, rainfall on the 30th measured 3.42 inches, followed by another 1.43 inches on the 31st. Also at the Mount Ida airport on the 30th, 0.66 inch of rain fell in the 5-minute period ending at 6:53 PM CDT, 0.97 inch fell in the 10-minute…

6. Sep 2, 2008Tropical Depression, Montgomery$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tropical Depression Gustav entered the southwest corner of Arkansas on the evening of the 2nd and lingered in the southwest part of the state for nearly 24 hours. By mid-evening on the 3rd, Gustav was about 75 miles west of Little Rock. Gustav exited northwest Arkansas on the morning of the 4th. During its passage across Arkansas, Gustav produced excessive rainfall, strong winds, flash flooding and river flooding, and one tornado. In the Little Rock County Warning Area, wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph were common. The strongest gust measured was 48 mph at Little Rock National Airport/Adams Field. Power was knocked out to more than 100,000 electric customers. Wind damage was estimated…

7. Aug 30, 2012Tropical Depression, Montgomery$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Although Isaac was a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, it had weakened to a tropical depression by the time it reached Arkansas. Isaac passed through western Arkansas on the evening of the 30th and during the day on the 31st. Positions from the National Hurricane Center and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center: August 30th at 10 PM (CDT) 95 miles south-southwest of Little Rock, August 31st at 4 AM 95 miles west of Little Rock, August 31st at 10 AM 25 miles northeast of Fort Smith, and August 31st at 4 PM 40 miles east of Joplin, Missouri. Although Isaac had exited Arkansas by the end of the month, some effects, including bands of thunderstorms spiraling in toward its center,…

8. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Montgomery$375,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 38 MPH wind gust was recorded at Mount Ida. Trees were reported down on U.S. Highway 270.

9. Feb 4, 2014Ice Storm, Montgomery$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Arctic air was over Arkansas on the 4th, and an area of low pressure aloft moved in from the southwest. As a result, widespread precipitation developed. Freezing rain and sleet began moving into western Arkansas before dawn on the 4th. A swath of counties from west central Arkansas through the central part of the state into northeast Arkansas experience an ice storm, with accruals of 1/4 to 1/2 inch common. Trees, power lines, and power poles were brought down by the ice. About 45,000 electric customers lost power. In a few instances, it took three and a half days to restore power. Several counties opened warming shelters for those who had no electricity. The extreme northern…

10. Jan 29, 2008Strong Wind, Montgomery$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A strong cold front approached from the Plains during the morning of January 29th. The front arrived during the early afternoon hours, and winds shifted to the northwest. Wind speeds of 30 to 40 mph were common, with gusts over 50 mph. Approximately 80,000 power outages occurred.

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

111°FAug 1, 1986

All-time low

−8°FJan 12, 1962

Warmest night

79°FJul 4, 1960

Coldest day

14°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

8.20 inDec 3, 1982

Snowiest day

15.3 inDec 26, 2012

Hottest year

2024mean 62.6°F

Coldest year

1979mean 57.4°F

Wettest year

197386.05 in

Driest year

200537.53 in

Snowiest season

15.5 in1977-78

Station Blakely Mountain Dam (USC00030764), 426 ft elevation, 24.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1956 to October 26, 2026; 94.7% 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 USC00030764.
• 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.