White County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within White County: 60.
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. Jan 26, 2009Ice Storm, White$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The sheriff's office reported 1/4 inch of ice in Searcy by 5:45 AM on the 27th.

2. May 1, 2011Flood$7.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Part of U.S. Highway 67/167 was closed due to flooding near Beebe. Arkansas Highway 36 also flooded, making Georgetown accessible only by boat. Part of the Henry Gray Hurricane Lake Wildlife Management Area was closed due to flooding. Flooding in White County continued into June.

3. Mar 18, 2008Flood$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the White River at Georgetown to go above major flood level. This was the highest the river had risen since the two major flood reduction reservoirs were built in the middle of the twentieth century. The river was above minor flood level to start the event and continued to rise due to heavy rains. Some surrounding fields had six or seven feet of water in them. The communities of Georgetown and Nimmo were cut off for more than a month, when backwaters from the White River covered Arkansas Highway 36 between West Point and Georgetown. During this time, the only access to the area was by boat. Homes and cabins in the Nimmo community were either cut off by high water…

4. Dec 25, 2012Winter Storm, White$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall reports included 13 inches at Judsonia (public report), 10.5 inches at Steprock (cooperative observer), 9.5 inches at Georgetown (cooperative observer), and 7 inches at Searcy (cooperative observer).

5. Apr 26, 2011Flood$2.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread areal flooding occurred. Part of Arkansas Highway 36 was closed from the morning of the 30th through the end of the month.

6. Dec 24, 2009Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flash flooding, which developed early on the morning of the 24th, became widespread areal flooding later in the morning on the 24th and continued into Christmas morning. Flooding occurred on Arkansas Highways 87, 13, 323, 36, 11, and 16. Arkansas Highway 31 was flooded from Beebe to Lonoke, and from Floyd to Romance. Lake Barnett went over its banks, washing over Arkansas Highway 31 and the bridge at Gravel Hill. Two 80 year-old bridges were washed out at Vinity Corner.

7. Mar 19, 2008Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Flooding occurred on the Little Red River at Judsonia due to heavy rain. The river briefly went below flood stage on March 20th through the 22nd, but rose back above flood stage on the morning of the 22nd. Levees protecting the Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge were overtopped. Numerous county roads were flooded and Arkansas Highway 36 was flooded just east of West Point. Some homes and recreational cabins and trailers were flooded near West Point. It is hard to delineate between the Little Red River flooding and backwater effects from the more substantial White River flooding downstream. While the crest at Judsonia was within minor flood criteria, the impacts were more than…

8. Dec 24, 2009Flash Flood$2.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread heavy rain led to the development of flash flooding early on the morning of the 24th.

9. Apr 27, 2014Tornado$1.4 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An EF2 tornado struck the area around Center Hill. This was the second of five tornadoes produced by the same supercell thunderstorm. According to the American Red Cross, 4 houses and 11 mobile homes were destroyed, 4 mobile homes suffered major damage, 5 houses and 3 mobile homes had minor damage, and 2 houses and 3 mobile homes were affected. Numerous trees were blown down, and vehicles and outbuildings were destroyed. One person was injured.

10. Apr 25, 2011Tornado$1.0 million
    National Weather Service narrative

    The tornado knocked down or snapped off hundreds of trees. Many houses suffered roof damage, primarily from falling trees. Damage to roofs also occurred at the Beebe schools. Roofs were blown off several outbuildings, a few cars were crushed by falling trees, and quite a few power lines were blown down. The greatest amount of damage occurred in Beebe.

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

115°FAug 4, 1918

All-time low

−20°FJan 12, 1918

Warmest night

91°FAug 5, 1918

Coldest day

13°FJan 10, 1962

Wettest day

6.74 inNov 19, 1988

Snowiest day

11.0 inJan 11, 1918

Hottest year

1921mean 64.6°F

Coldest year

2014mean 58.6°F

Wettest year

195786.49 in

Driest year

192524.42 in

Snowiest season

14.8 in1977-78

Station Searcy (USC00036506), 230 ft elevation, 3.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1892 to August 24, 2026; 94.6% 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 USC00036506.
• 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.