Phillips County

Every recorded tornado

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

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.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jul 30, 2009Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down in Arkansas County roughly 5 miles south of Tichnor. The tornado moved northeast crossing into Phillips County. The tornado knocked down around one thousand trees in the White River National Wildlife Refuge. From there, the tornado traveled northeast on a continuous path producing damage near Lundell. The Phillips County Airport sustained damage to several buildings. One brick building had major roof damage while another building was completely destroyed. An airport hangar was damaged as well. Several airplanes received damage. Another building sustained minor damage. Several trees were snapped off and many power lines were knocked down in the area. The…

2. May 6, 2009Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding over Eastern Phillips County. At least 60 homes sustained some water damage. Several roads were flooded in Elaine, Lexa, and Helena-West Helena and some sustained damage. At least 1 foot of water covered Highway 242 near Lick Creek.

3. May 10, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Straight line winds created a thirty mile damage path across Phillips County beginning near County Road 146 northwest of Noy eventually ending in Coahoma County, Mississippi. Near Noy, several trees were blown down and uprooted. A mobile home was also destroyed in this area and several homes sustained damaged. The damage path continued to near Cypert, where several sheds and barns were either heavily destroyed or damaged. Dozens of large trees and power lines were downed or snapped. The damage path then continued east affecting the Gobell, Trenton, and Oneida areas. Rail cars were overturned and crops were damaged in the area. Three miles east of Lakeview, an airport hangar was…

4. May 2, 2009Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding across portions of Phillips County including Helena-West Helena, Elaine, Marvell, Barton and Lake View. Numerous roads were closed and several homes were inundated with water. The police department in Marvell had three to four feet of water inside.

5. Mar 17, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Four businesses were damaged. Four homes were also damaged. Some trees and power lines were knocked down.

6. May 1, 2011Flood$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Mississippi River at Helena-West Helena rose to near record levels during the beginning and middle part of May. Helena-West Helena escaped the flood waters by reinforcing the flood wall with sandbags. A residential area off of Highway 44 and Lithium Road was evacuated as a precaution. A few roads were flooded and/or damaged. Several thousand acres of fields were flooded. The river remained above flood stage through the end of the month.

7. Jun 30, 2004Flash Flood$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous businesses, homes and roads were flooded.

8. Jan 22, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several mobile homes were destroyed on the west side of West Helena. One mobile home was flipped on the southwest side of a neighborhood on the outskirts of town. The bottom frame of the home struck a tree behind the home 15 feet in the air. The mobile home landed on its roof and was completely destroyed. Cars were damaged by flying debris and trees were also blown down. Another neighborhood southwest of town was damaged as well. In this neighborhood, two mobile homes were flipped. One was blown into another mobile home and a wood house. Power lines and irrigation systems were blown down in the fields between the two neighborhoods. In West Helena, only minor damage was noted to…

9. Dec 13, 2000Winter Storm, Phillips$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A mix of snow,sleet and freezing rain fell across much of east Arkansas. The storm produced numerous downed tree limbs and power lines. Thousands of homes were without power for some period of time.

10. Feb 24, 2001Tornado$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado moved into the southeast corner of Phillips county from northern Desha county. The tornado struck several mobile homes just southwest of Mosby. Two mobile homes and a farm shop were destroyed. Two people from one of the mobile homes were injured.

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

113°FSep 6, 1925

All-time low

−9°FJan 18, 1930

Warmest night

86°FJul 20, 1998

Coldest day

8°FDec 23, 1989

Wettest day

10.05 inMay 28, 1893

Snowiest day

13.0 inDec 23, 1963

Hottest year

1925mean 66.1°F

Coldest year

1979mean 58.7°F

Wettest year

190671.79 in

Driest year

200727.90 in

Snowiest season

13.0 in1963-64

Station Helena (USC00033242), 218 ft elevation, 6.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1897 to September 29, 2026; 86.7% 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 USC00033242.
• 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.