St. Francis County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within St. Francis County: 6.
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. Jun 2, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$6.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees down in approximately a two mile swath from near Colt, Arkansas. The hangar at the Delta Regional Airport in Colt was destroyed. In addition, several trees fell on houses along the path and numerous homes had some roof damage. Some power poles were snapped in the damage path.

2. May 1, 2011Flood$752,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain during late April into early May caused the St. Francis River at Madison and L'Anguille River at Palestine to rise to near record levels. The river remained above flood stage through the end of May. Several homes sustained minor damage from the flooding. Several roads were closed and/or damaged. Several hundred acres of cropland was flooded.

3. Jan 21, 1999Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado moved into the extreme southwest corner of St. Francis county from Monroe county. It touched down several times and then lifted back into the air. The most severe damage occurred in and near Wheatley. Thirteen homes were completely demolished and six other homes sustained structural damage. Further along its path, the tornado hit a farm about 4.5 miles northeast of Wheatley. The farmhouse lost part of its roof. Two or three machine sheds were demolished, several other outbuildings were damaged, grain storage bins were flatted and blown several hundreds of feet away and irrigation equipment suffered extensive damage.

4. Jun 29, 2014Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Very heavy rainfall occurred across much of St. Francis County. Over 7 inches of rain was recorded at Wheatley. Many roads were flooded across the county and homes were evacuated in Madison due to flooding along Crow Creek. Five families were evacuated from homes in the Stonebrook subdicison in Forrest City.

5. Dec 21, 2013Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down six miles west-southwest of Hughes and traveled north-northeast. Three mobile homes were destroyed near Hughes. Roof damage occurred to two homes and a barn was damaged. A number of irrigation pivots were overturned. Near the community of Wildwood a metal shed was destroyed. Power lines were also damaged along the path. The tornado lifted one mile northwest of Tarsus. The peak winds were estimated at 130 mph.

6. Jun 2, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage to a Waffle House and two semi-trailers overturned off I-40 and Highway 1 exit.

7. Apr 5, 2025Tornado$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The tornado started just southwest of Colt, west of SFC 241. Multiple trees were damaged with some minor roof damage to a home along SFC 244. The tornado continued northeast, with a manufactured home destroyed along Highway 306 W and the debris blown away from the structure. Several nearby homes sustained minor roof damage before crossing into Cross County. Peak winds were estimated to be 110 mph.

8. Jun 2, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous trees and power lines down across town with a widespread power outage. Additional trees down on houses across the city and one trailer north of town. The worst damage stretched along Highway 1.

9. Dec 13, 2000Winter Storm, St. Francis$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. May 9, 2007Lightning$90,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Lightning struck a local public housing complex on Rice Street in Forrest City. A fire started and spread to other apartments. No injuries were reported.

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

110°FAug 7, 1934

All-time low

−10°F2 times, most recently Feb 2, 1951

Warmest night

90°FJul 30, 1908

Coldest day

9°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

6.70 inSep 11, 1965

Snowiest day

10.0 inDec 22, 1963

Hottest year

2023mean 66.2°F

Coldest year

1917mean 58.4°F

Wettest year

195776.34 in

Driest year

196323.40 in

Snowiest season

28.4 in1984-85

Station Wynne (USC00038052), 278 ft elevation, 16.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1908 to September 29, 2026; 96.8% 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 USC00038052.
• 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.