Woodruff County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Woodruff County: 32.
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, Woodruff$10.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The sheriff's office reported 3/4 inch of ice across the county by 5:45 AM on the 27th.

2. Mar 18, 2008Flood$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy rain caused the White River at Augusta to go above major flood level. The river was above minor flood level at the start of the event, but continued to rise due to heavy rains. Houses on 4th Street in Augusta were surrounded by water. The Horseshoe Lake community was underwater. About 30 homes, most of them in the Taylor Bay community, were flooded. Agricultural losses were to winter wheat and delayed planting of corn and grain sorghum. Many acres of wheat were also recently fertilized to compound the losses. County roads were flooded, especially in the Taylor Bay portion of the floodplain. Portions of Arkansas Highway 33 north of Augusta were flooded. The flooding continued…

3. Jun 29, 2014Flash Flood$1.8 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall measured 9.75 inches 4 miles west of Cotton Plant, 9.70 inches at Howell, 7.50 inches at Augusta, and 7.45 inches at McCrory. About 40 homes flooded around Augusta, Patterson, and McCrory, and about 26 homes and businesses flooded around Cotton Plant. Arkansas 145 and numerous county roads were flooded, as were farm fields. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service reported that 15,000 acres of soybeans were flooded in the county.

4. May 1, 2011Flood$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Part of Arkansas Highway 33 was closed due to flooding. At the height of the flooding, boats were parked on the courthouse lawn in Augusta. Evacuations were necessary in McClelland, Gregory, Cotton Plant, and Patterson. Flooding in Woodruff County continued into June.

5. Dec 25, 2012Winter Storm, Woodruff$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Cooperative observers measured 6.6 inches of snow at McCrory and 6 inches at Augusta.

6. Mar 1, 1997Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado touched down about 1.5 miles west of Patterson and moved northeastward. The tornado crossed Highway 64 about a mile northwest of Patterson where some trees were snapped off and a roadside park sustained damage. 3 miles north of McCrory on Highway 17, the tornado destroyed a house trailer and damaged some power poles. About a half mile north of the intersection of Highways 37 and 269, the tornado reached F2 strength, heavily damaging some homes and uprooting a number of trees. Near the intersection of Highways 37 and 145, a duck hunting club was destroyed and a farm shop and grain bins were damaged. The last damage noted in Woodruff County was just off Highway 145 where a…

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

   Heavy rain caused the Cache River at Patterson to go above flood stage. The river was above flood stage to start the event and continued as three significant rainfall events occurred during the month to refresh the flooding. County roads were damaged by the flooding and agricultural losses were to pastures and winter wheat. The flooding continued into April.

8. Dec 10, 2021Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed just north of Augusta, west of Arkansas Highway 33, moving northeast, severely damaging homes and uprooting or snapping trees in the neighborhood along Sinclair Street and power lines were downed. As the tornado moved northeast it severely damaged farm buildings along Raspberry Lane/Woodruff County Road 260. The tornado continued over rural farm land, eventually crossing Arkansas Hwy. 17 between Tupelo and Overcup, lifting just east of Arkansas Hwy. 17 south of Overcup. The 3 injuries were just north of Augusta. Two farm shops and several grain bins were destroyed. Extensive damage was noted on the north side of Augusta.

9. Aug 30, 2012Tropical Depression, Woodruff$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,…

10. Mar 2, 2014Winter Storm, Woodruff$500,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A strong Arctic cold front moved through Arkansas on the 2nd and the morning hours of the 3rd. Freezing rain and sleet began to fall in northern Arkansas before dawn on the 2nd, while rain fell over the rest of the state. As colder air made its way farther into the state, rain changed to freezing rain and sleet over most of the northern half of the state on the afternoon of the 2nd, over the middle of the state from late afternoon through early evening, and over parts of southern Arkansas after midnight on the 3rd. Meanwhile, much of the sleet changed over to snow in northern Arkansas on the night of the 2nd, while some snow flurries also made it into the central part of the…

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°FJul 13, 1980

All-time low

−7°F2 times, most recently Feb 17, 2021

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Aug 4, 2011

Coldest day

11°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

8.20 inMay 31, 2013

Snowiest day

9.0 inFeb 10, 1946

Hottest year

2012mean 65.1°F

Coldest year

1993mean 58.3°F

Wettest year

200982.85 in

Driest year

196325.05 in

Snowiest season

17.6 in1984-85

Station Beedeville 4 Ne (USC00030536), 218 ft elevation, 19.0 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1964 to October 27, 2026; 92.4% 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 USC00030536.
• 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.