Sevier County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Sevier 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. Dec 24, 2000Ice Storm, Sevier$165 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   After trying to recover from an ice storm two week earlier in the month, another even more devastating ice storm struck all of southwest Arkansas. Freezing rain resulted in ice accumulations ranging from 1/4 inch to as much as 6 inches. After taking a tour of the state, the Governor of Arkansas used words such as apocalyptic and cataclysmic to describe the damage. Power was knocked out across all of southwest Arkansas with nearly 300,000 homes and business without power due to thousands of trees and 2500 power poles either broken or toppled. Utility crews from 23 different states were summoned to help repair lines. Some residents were without power as late as the middle of January 2001.

2. Dec 12, 2000Ice Storm, Sevier$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…

3. Apr 9, 2009Tornado$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado destroyed at least 10 to 12 mobile homes along US-71 just north of De Queen, AR. Numerous trees and powerlines were also uprooted or snapped. There were 7 reported injuries, all in the mobile home park north of Dequeen, Arkansas but none were life threatening. The Arkansas governor declared Sevier County a disaster area because of the tornado damage in the county.

4. Sep 2, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines down. Twenty eight (28) homes damaged. A chicken house was destroyed and 30 thousand chickens were contaminated resulting in their destruction.

5. May 24, 2024Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   During the early morning hours of May 24th, an EF-1 tornado with maximum winds estimated at 110 mph, first touched down on Beacon Hill Road in rural Central Sevier County, Arkansas between the towns of De Queen and Lockesburg in association with a quasi-linear convective system. It continued to move northeastward for 4 to 5 miles, crossing US Highway 71 just south of the US Hwy 70 intersection, then lifting along Sevier County Road 328. Damage consisted mostly of uprooted and snapped trees and power lines, with structural damage to a few outbuildings and sheds. A few residences were damaged due to falling trees or branches. Peak intensity of the tornado was estimated as the…

6. Apr 28, 2020Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the continuation of the Eastern McCurtain County EF-2 tornado. This tornado snapped and uprooted numerous trees along Kellum Road in Northwest Sevier County, and continued to touch down intermittently several times as it tracked southeast. It touched down again along Bellah Mine Road as it crossed DeQueen Lake, with additional trees snapped and uprooted along Story Creek Road and DeQueen Lake Road. Minor metal roof damage to a garage of a home also occurred in this area. The damage swath broadened as the tornado approached Highway 71, when it crossed Crosstrails Road, damaging the roofs of two chicken houses while uprooting and snapping numerous trees. The tornado…

7. May 10, 2008Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF1 tornado with winds of 85 to 95 mph occurred on the north side of the town of Dequeen, Arkansas. The main track paralleled West Robinson Road west of U.S. Hwy 71 North. Numerous large trees were snapped and uprooted including several that fell on homes. Several trees also fell in the town of DeQueen mainly along Altena Street in association with strong straight line winds from the same tornadic thunderstorm.

8. May 25, 2015Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage was reported in Sevier County, Arkansas as well as in the city of DeQueen, Arkansas. Some damage was reported to homes, mainly from fallen trees. Numerous other trees were snapped and uprooted across the county as well.

9. Sep 13, 2008Tropical Storm, Sevier$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The remnants of Tropical Storm Ike resulted in numerous trees and power lines downed across Sevier County, Arkansas. There were numerous power outages as well throughout the county. There were trees reported on two homes and one trailer house in the town of Dequeen, Arkansas.

10. Nov 21, 2011Lightning$150,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning struck a home in Horatio, Arkansas, burning it to the ground. There were no reports of injuries.

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°FAug 10, 1936

All-time low

−14°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

82°F2 times, most recently Jun 28, 1952

Coldest day

17°F2 times, most recently Feb 16, 2021

Wettest day

8.72 inApr 11, 2017

Snowiest day

9.5 inJan 28, 2000

Hottest year

1938mean 65.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 59.2°F

Wettest year

195776.94 in

Driest year

194325.09 in

Snowiest season

12.5 in1999-00

Station Dequeen (USC00031948), 407 ft elevation, 3.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1902 to October 27, 2026; 98.3% 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 USC00031948.
• 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.