Randolph County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 1, 2017Flood$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain brought the Black River at Pocahontas to a record crest that topped the April 2011 flood. The levee east of town broke in at least nine places, including one 300 yard stretch, sending water across much of Randolph County. East Pocahontas was flooded and suffered major damage. Highway 67 was flooded between Pocahontas and Walnut Ridge. Highway 67/62 between Pocahontas and Corning was flooded. Highways 166 and 304 were also closed. Highway 304 was closed for 37 days. The Current River also flooded farmland in eastern Randolph County. Numerous homes, farms, businesses and vehicles were flooded. Many roads and bridges were flooded and damaged. More than 500 people were…

2. May 3, 2017Flash Flood$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The levee east of Pocahontas broke in several places during the morning hours of May 3rd. Water poured south along the Big Running Water Creek across thousands of acres of farmland. Many small communities were flooded. Several water rescues occurred at the intersection of Highway 67 and Highway 90 in Shannon.

3. Sep 23, 2006Flash Flood$2.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rains caused flash flooding in northern portions of Randolph County. The hardest hit area was near Maynard where flood water entered many homes near Highway 115. Porches were ripped off from some homes due to the flood water. In addition, 8 to 12 inches of flood water covered the intersection of Highway 90 and Highway 251. Officials estimated that 70 percent of roads and highways had been damaged by flooding, and about half of the damage had been severe. Two chicken houses in North Central Randolph County were flooded, killing about 40,000 chickens. In addition, a number of cattle drowned and crops were severely damaged.

4. Mar 18, 2008Flood$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flooding along the Black River and it's tributaries. The flooding provided intense pressure on the county's levees. Two breaches occurred, one of them on the Scaggs-Ferry Levee. Numerous roads were closed from the high water including Arkansas 90, U.S.Highway 62, Arkansas 166, Arkansas 93, Arkansas 328, Arkansas 304, and U.S. Highway 67 South from Pocahontas into Lawrence County. Over forty buildings including some houses and a senior citizen complex received damage from the flooding. Of those, ten houses were destroyed, thirty-four houses had major damage, and twelve had minor damage. Randolph County was declared a state disaster area.

5. Apr 1, 2008Flood$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flooding in March along the Black River and it's tributaries. The flooding provided intense pressure on the county's levees. Two breaches occurred, one of them on the Scaggs-Ferry Levee. Numerous roads were closed from the high water including Arkansas 90, U.S.Highway 62, Arkansas 166, Arkansas 93, Arkansas 328, Arkansas 304, and U.S. Highway 67 South from Pocahontas into Lawrence County. By the beginning of April, over forty buildings including some houses and a senior citizen complex received damage from the flooding. Of those, ten houses were destroyed, thirty-four houses had major damage, and twelve had minor damage. Randolph County was declared a state…

6. Apr 5, 1999Tornado$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado touched down on the east side of Paragould and moved northeast. The tornado hit a commercial area with several restaurants and other businesses damaged or destroyed. Several trees and power lines were blown down as well.

7. Apr 27, 2014Flash Flood$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain produced flash flooding across parts of Randolph County. Highway 62 and others roads west of Pocahontas were flooded. Several streets were impassable in Maynard. Many county roads were also flooded north of Imboden.

8. Jan 26, 2009Ice Storm, Randolph$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   One to two inches of ice fell across Randolph County along with an additional inch of snow. Some sleet accumulations occurred initally as the storm began. Thunder sleet produced a half inch of sleet accumulation near Biggers. Total sleet accumulations ranged from an inch to one and half inches. Widespread power outages occurred. Roads impassable.

9. Apr 2, 2006Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado began 3 miles south of Pocahontas and tracked east into Greene County. In Shannon, three businesses and five homes were destroyed. Another two businesses and two homes had major damage. Eighteen other homes had minor damage. The tornado produced F1 type damage in Randolph County.

10. Dec 3, 2002Ice Storm, Randolph$925,000
    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.

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, 2.9 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.