Scott County

Every recorded tornado

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

Mapped landslides

Mapped by East OK, West AR (Regmi and Walter, 2020) (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

Costliest events since 1996

1. Jan 26, 2009Ice Storm, Scott$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees were cleared from county roadways and schools. Five motor vehicle accidents occurred in the county.

2. May 30, 2013Flash Flood$9.2 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe flash flooding occurred across a large part of Scott County. Soon after Midnight CDT on the 31st, two women called 911 after flooding from Mill Creek trapped them in their house at Y City. The Scott County Sheriff and a Wildlife Officer First Class from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission responded to the call. According to the incident report by the Game and Fish Commission, the rescuers reached the house in an aluminum motorboat, removed one woman from the house and put here in their boat. As they were trying to rescue the second woman, the house collapsed due to the force of the floodwaters. The boat then capsized, drowning the three people in the boat, and the woman…

3. Dec 5, 2013Winter Storm, Scott$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An ice storm occurred in Scott County, knocking down trees and power lines (utility company). Some sleet and snow also fell. Sleet and snow totaled 1.3 inches at Parks (Cooperative Observer).

4. Oct 29, 2009Flash Flood$525,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Arkansas Highways 28 and 248 were flooded. A number of county roads were damaged by flash flooding.

5. Dec 25, 2012Winter Storm, Scott$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cooperative observers measured 8.9 inches of snow at Parks and 5.6 inches at Waldron.

6. Aug 30, 2012Tropical Depression, Scott$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,…

7. Mar 18, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A home was damaged at Hon. Chicken houses and barns were damaged or destroyed. Trees and power lines were down.

8. Feb 3, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A 2-mile wide swath of damage occurred across Waldron. Dozens of trees and power lines were blown down, as were some street lights. Several houses were damaged, primarily due to trees falling on them. Shingles were blown off some roofs and awnings were damaged. Two barns had their roofs blown off. Downtown, some business suffered roof damage and the wall of a concrete block building was blown in.

9. Nov 21, 2011Flash Flood$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several places on U.S. 71 and Arkansas 28 near Waldron flooded. Water was 4 feet deep at the intersection of U.S. 71 and Arkansas 378 at the Elm Park community. U.S. 71 also flooded a couple of miles north of Y City. Numerous county roads were under water. Several homes in Waldron were flooded and a mobile home west of Y City was washed off its foundation. A National Weather Service storm survey indicated virtually every creek had overflowed along Arkansas 28 from the Yell/Scott County line westward to U.S. 71.

10. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Scott$375,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Tropical Storm Ike moved into Arkansas on the evening of the 13th. By mid evening of the 13th, Ike was located in western Arkansas. Ike weakened to a tropical depression during the wee hours of the 14th, when it was located about 105 miles west-northwest of Little Rock. Ike exited northern Arkansas before sunrise on the 14th. In the Little Rock County Warning Area, wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph were common, and some gusts in the northern part of the state exceeded 50 mph. The strongest gusts measured were 67 mph at the Izard County Fairgrounds in Melbourne and 61 mph at the Newport airport. The strongest sustained wind measured was 46 mph at the Newport airport. Power was knocked out…

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

114°FSep 8, 1922

All-time low

−20°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

93°FSep 7, 1939

Coldest day

9°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

7.00 inSep 1, 2020

Snowiest day

15.1 inFeb 19, 1921

Hottest year

1921mean 65.7°F

Coldest year

2014mean 57.6°F

Wettest year

202085.16 in

Driest year

195521.36 in

Snowiest season

28.6 in1978-79

Station Waldron (USC00037488), 716 ft elevation, 1.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1919 to October 27, 2026; 90.1% 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 USC00037488.
• 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.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• 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.