Nevada County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Dec 12, 2000Ice Storm, Nevada$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…

2. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage path began 1.8 miles north of Hope, AR moved northeast along hwy 174, crossed I-30 at exit 36 (Emmet, AR. exit) continued northeast on the west side of I-30 past Emmit then northeast 1/2 to 2 miles west of I-30 and Prescott, AR then crossed the Little Missouri River at the Nevada-Clark county line and continued northeast. Total path length about 18 miles with width average 25 yds to 1/2 mile. Numerous homes, buildings, mobile homes, and vehicles were destroyed or heavily damaged.

3. Apr 4, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five homes were damaged, three of those by downed trees just south of Prescott near Emmet, close to Hwy. 53 and Hwy. 24.

4. Mar 14, 2025Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF2 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 115 mph touched down late in the evening on March 14th, 2025, along County Road 2434 near the intersection with Highway 200 where damage to vegetation was noted, mainly in the form of large branches broken and a few uprooted trees. The tornado then continued northeast, causing more damage around the intersection of County Road 432 and County Road 45. Here, major loss of roof panels was noted on several small barns and outbuildings. The tornado then continued to track a few miles northeast, passing near Dills Mills and surrounding forested land before strengthening and passing along Highway 299, north of its intersection with County…

5. Jul 25, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$245,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Two homes suffered heavy roof damage and two large barns were blown down. Also, numerous trees were toppled and broken.

6. Apr 4, 2011Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage was reported to a residence and several chicken houses off CR. 23. Numerous county roads were blocked due to downed trees.

7. Mar 7, 2026Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the early morning hours on March 7th, a severe thunderstorm produced an EF2 tornado with estimated maximum winds of 125 mph just west of Willisville in Southern Nevada County, Arkansas. This storm also had a history of producing an earlier tornado in East Texas. The first sign of damage from the tornado was seen just south of the intersection of Highway 32 and County Road 9 near a large open field. The tornado brought down multiple large trees before heading northeast through the large open field. On the far northeast corner of the field is where tree damage picked up again, before tracking across Highway 32 just to the west of County Road 17. The more significant damage…

8. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Nevada$100,000
   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.

9. Oct 13, 2009Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Hwy. 371...32...76...278...and numerous other county roads were under water and closed due to flooding. Nevada County was one of 20 counties across the state that were declared disaster areas from rainfall up to the 13th, 14th and 15th of October. In addition to the state declaration, Nevada County qualified for federal assistance as the county was deemed a Federal Disaster Area from the flash flooding and storm damage that ensued during the month of October.

10. Dec 27, 2015Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    An NWS Storm Survey team concluded that the damage near Willisville, Arkansas was consistent with that of an EF-1 tornado. This tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees along its path. Several outbuildings were destroyed and several homes had minor to moderate roof damage as well.

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

119°FAug 4, 1897

All-time low

−9°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

86°FAug 16, 1903

Coldest day

16°FJan 31, 1949

Wettest day

9.48 inJul 4, 2015

Snowiest day

11.3 inJan 28, 2000

Hottest year

1938mean 66.8°F

Coldest year

2014mean 59.4°F

Wettest year

200993.08 in

Driest year

193631.55 in

Snowiest season

24.2 in1947-48

Station Prescott 2 Nnw (USC00035908), 308 ft elevation, 6.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1890 to September 10, 2026; 92.9% 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 USC00035908.
• 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.