Van Buren County

Every recorded tornado

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

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Feb 20, 2015Winter Storm, Van Buren$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snow and sleet accumulations up to 1.0 fell during the late afternoon on February 20, followed by freezing rain with ice accumulations up to 1 from the evening on February 20 into the early morning hours on February 21. TEMA and local emergency management reported numerous trees and power lines knocked down across the county, including at Fall Creek Falls State Park, with some roadways blocked. Power outages affected some areas for up to 2 weeks. Van Buren County was declared a Presidential disaster area on April 2, 2015.

2. Aug 7, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Satellite imagery along with damage photos indicate a large and very damaging 10 mile wide downburst struck eastern Van Buren County. Scattered trees were snapped and uprooted in this large downburst with winds estimated from 60 to 75 mph. Within the downburst area, a smaller but much more damaging 1.5 mile wide microburst blew down thousands of trees from western Fall Creek Falls State Park eastward to south of Saratoga Springs. Numerous roads were blocked by falling trees in this area, with some trees falling onto buildings. Winds in the microburst were estimated up to 95 mph. This resulted in numerous trees falling on cars in the park and trapping multiple people. Multiple…

3. Mar 3, 2023High Wind, Van Buren$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several hours of severe non-thunderstorm winds led to numerous reports of downed and uprooted trees, downed powerlines, and roof and property damage across all of Van Buren County. Damages are estimated.

4. May 1, 1997Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Electric company reported lightning damaged a transformer near the Baker Boyd Subdivsion in the Turkey Scratch area near Spencer.

5. Nov 10, 2002Tornado$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   EMA reported a frame house was demolished at intersection of Highway 111 and Highway 30.

6. Jun 4, 2009Flash Flood$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roads flooded throughout the county. Landslide on 30 East out of Spencer. Road was blocked.

7. Jun 27, 2018Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Fall Creek Falls State Park manager estimated one to two hundred trees were blown down across the park with three cabins and several campers and vehicles damaged from fallen trees.

8. Jun 11, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Small trees were reported down county wide.

9. Jun 4, 2009Flash Flood$25,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several roads were flooded throughout Van Buren County. Newspaper reported that water ran over State Highway 30 east of Spencer, causing the roadway to be closed|for nearly two hours until the Tennessee Department of Transportation and other volunteers could clean ditches and divert the water which was crossing the roadway nearly a foot deep. The water was washing rocks and other debris into the road, causing at least one vehicle to sustain a flat tire when it was driven through the area.

10. Jan 29, 2010Ice Storm, Van Buren$25,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    One quarter to one half of an inch of ice accumulations on trees, power lines, and other exposed surfaces caused scattered to widespread power outages across the county.

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

108°FJun 30, 2012

All-time low

−20°FFeb 5, 1996

Warmest night

78°FJul 21, 1983

Coldest day

4°FDec 24, 2022

Wettest day

6.10 inJul 24, 1957

Snowiest day

10.0 in2 times, most recently Feb 19, 1960

Hottest year

2007mean 61.0°F

Coldest year

1968mean 54.6°F

Wettest year

201879.24 in

Driest year

200734.29 in

Snowiest season

21.3 in1995-96

Station Sparta Wwtp (USC00408522), 905 ft elevation, 13.5 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1961 to October 23, 2026; 97.8% 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 USC00408522.
• 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.