NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Des Arc, AR
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
7 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Des Arc, Arkansas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Laura in 2020. Since 1950, 120 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 17 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 7
- Tornadoes
- 120
- EF3 or stronger
- 17
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
115 deaths in all
What the records show for Des Arc
None of the 7 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Des Arc; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1923, a tropical storm with 52 mph winds when its centre passed 11 miles away. The record near Des Arc begins with an unnamed storm in 1879; the most recent system was Laura in 2020, a tropical storm 67 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 2 systems. Of the 7 systems, one has come since 2000. Des Arc has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 213 Arkansas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 120 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on May 26, 1973, came within 23 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on March 21, 1952, killed 50 people. Of the 120, 7 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 51 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 25. The most recent tornado was on June 12, 2025. Des Arc has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 66% of the 213 Arkansas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 37 times since 1956, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 213 Arkansas cities, 93% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Des Arc.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Des Arc
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | LauraAug 28 | 67 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 11 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 20 | 47 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 12 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 24 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Des Arc: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Des Arc
By decade
- 2020s4(1 EF3+)
- 2010s21
- 2000s26(2 EF3+)
- 1990s14(3 EF3+)
- 1980s14(1 EF3+)
- 1970s22(4 EF3+)
- 1960s4
- 1950s15(6 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 21, 1952 | F4 | 21 mi | 14.6 mi | 50 / 325 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F4 | 16 mi | 13.1 mi | 29 / 180 |
| May 26, 1973 | F4 | 23 mi | 54.8 mi | 3 / 289 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F4 | 19 mi | 7.6 mi | 2 / 6 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F3 | 17 mi | 16.2 mi | 9 / 9 |
| Mar 29, 1976 | F3 | 23 mi | 17.2 mi | 5 / 64 |
| Jan 21, 1999 | F3 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 2 / 29 |
| Dec 24, 1982 | F3 | 18 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 0 |
| Jan 7, 1978 | F3 | 18 mi | 39.6 mi | 1 / 9 |
| Mar 31, 2023 | EF3 | 24 mi | 34.23 mi | 0 / 54 |
| May 4, 2003 | F3 | 12 mi | 43 mi | 0 / 4 |
| May 4, 2003 | F3 | 21 mi | 34.9 mi | 0 / 5 |
The strongest 12 of 120, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Des Arc
The Storm Prediction Center has 37 hail reports within 10 miles of Des Arc since 1956, made on 32 separate days. Of these, 16 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 9, 1991. The most recent report is from April 30, 2022. April has the most reports, 15.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Des Arc
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Des Arc, AR, 2 miles northeast of Des Arc at 200 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 49°F and 33°F. April is the wettest at 5.5 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 2.9 inches; the year adds up to 50.0 inches over 72 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 70 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 50 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.3 inches a year, most of it in February. That 50.0 inches is more than at 25 of the 95 Arkansas stations used on this site (26%). Carlisle, 18 miles southwest, has its own station (Keo, AR): 50.6 inches a year, 0.6 more than here, and a July average high of 90°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49 | 33 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Feb | 54 | 36 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Mar | 63 | 44 | 5.2 | 8 | 0.7 |
| Apr | 73 | 53 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 62 | 5.4 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 71 | 3.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 73 | 3.1 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 91 | 72 | 2.9 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 85 | 65 | 3.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 75 | 53 | 4.2 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 62 | 43 | 4.4 | 6 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 52 | 36 | 5.3 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Year | 72 | 53 | 50.0 | 72 | 2.3 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Des Arc, AR (200 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Des Arc
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 112 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Des Arc: 52 floods, 45 thunderstorm wind reports, 13 flash floods, 1 heavy rain event and 1 lightning strike. They killed 0 people and injured 1, and the NWS estimated $16.9 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 70 mph, on October 17, 2007. August has had the most flash floods, 4 of 13. Of the 212 Arkansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 56 have had fewer than Des Arc.
March 24, 1996: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Des Arc — 1 injured.
March 18, 2008: flood 5 miles from the centre of Des Arc — $10.2 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain caused the White River at Des Arc to go above major flood level. This was the highest the river had been since April, 1973.”
November 1, 2009: flood 5 miles from the centre of Des Arc — $3.0 million damage.
NWS: “Heavy rainfall at the end of October allowed the White River at Des Arc to remain above flood stage through the middle of November. Some crops were damaged, while others were lost altogether.”
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Flood insurance policyholders in Des Arc's ZIP code 72040 have filed 64 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2004, and were paid $2.0 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Mid-spring storms in 2011: 34 claims (53% of all) and $1.5 million, then Late spring severe storms in 2017 with 18. 83% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 103 Arkansas cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 72 have fewer than Des Arc.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-spring storms2011 | 34 | $1.5 million |
| Late spring severe storms2017 | 18 | $265,000 |
Prairie County, which includes Des Arc, has been named in 22 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1969, 15 of them major disasters (by incident: 10 severe storms, 3 hurricanes, 3 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Prairie County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $9.0 million a year, the 54th highest of 75 Arkansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $3.7 million (42%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. 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).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets 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).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Des Arc
- Hazen, AR13 mi
- Carlisle, AR18 mi
- Brinkley, AR20 mi
- Mc Rae, AR21 mi
- Kensett, AR21 mi
- Augusta, AR23 mi
- Ward, AR23 mi
- Searcy, AR23 mi
- Beebe, AR24 mi
- Lonoke, AR24 mi
- Bald Knob, AR25 mi
- Judsonia, AR26 mi
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