NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Hot Springs, 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
8 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Hot Springs, Arkansas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Laura in 2020. Since 1950, 101 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 11 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 8
- Tornadoes
- 101
- EF3 or stronger
- 11
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
8 deaths in all
What the records show for Hot Springs
None of the 8 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Hot Springs; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1879, a tropical storm with 46 mph winds when its centre passed 25 miles away. The record near Hot Springs begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Laura in 2020, a tropical storm 33 miles away. Of the 8 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Hot Springs has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 68% of the 213 Arkansas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 101 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 1, 1997, came within 23 miles. Of the 101, 9 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 49 have come since 2000. March has had the most tornadoes, 21. The most recent tornado was on October 18, 2025. Hot Springs has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 51% of the 213 Arkansas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 201 times since 1956, with stones up to 3.5 inches. Hot Springs has more hail reports within 10 miles than 87% of the 213 Arkansas cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Hot Springs
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 64 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 32 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 20 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 66 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 7 | 69 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 34 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 Hot Springs: 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 Hot Springs
By decade
- 2020s9
- 2010s17(1 EF3+)
- 2000s23(1 EF3+)
- 1990s14(4 EF3+)
- 1980s13(1 EF3+)
- 1970s10
- 1960s6(1 EF3+)
- 1950s9(3 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 1, 1997 | F4 | 23 mi | 27 mi | 6 / 100 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F4 | 20 mi | 24 mi | 0 / 11 |
| Apr 25, 2011 | EF3 | 7 mi | 16.78 mi | 1 / 20 |
| Nov 27, 2005 | F3 | 24 mi | 19 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 1999 | F3 | 23 mi | 13 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 21, 1999 | F3 | 23 mi | 11 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 25, 1982 | F3 | 19 mi | 9 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 5, 1967 | F3 | in town | 4.3 mi | 0 / 6 |
| May 13, 1957 | F3 | 15 mi | 14.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 26, 1955 | F3 | 15 mi | 28.8 mi | 0 / 3 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F3 | 21 mi | 17.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 14, 1959 | F2 | 15 mi | 11.9 mi | 1 / 7 |
The strongest 12 of 101, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Hot Springs
The Storm Prediction Center has 201 hail reports within 10 miles of Hot Springs since 1956, made on 128 separate days. Of these, 129 were 1 inch across or larger, and 16 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.5 inches, fell on January 21, 1999. The most recent report is from March 14, 2025. April has the most reports, 43.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Hot Springs
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hot Springs 1 NNE, AR, 2 miles north of Hot Springs at 626 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 93°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 52°F and 32°F. May is the wettest at 6.5 inches of precipitation on average and August the driest at 3.6 inches; the year adds up to 57.9 inches over 74 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 77 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 59 nights a year. Snowfall averages 1.1 inches a year, most of it in January. That 57.9 inches is more than at 87 of the 95 Arkansas stations used on this site (92%). Pearcy, 11 miles west, has its own station (Blakely Mountain Dam, AR): 57.9 inches a year, the same as here, and a July average high of 91°F against 93°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 52 | 32 | 3.8 | 6 | 0.6 |
| Feb | 56 | 35 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Mar | 65 | 42 | 5.5 | 8 | 0.1 |
| Apr | 74 | 51 | 5.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 80 | 60 | 6.5 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 88 | 68 | 4.3 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 93 | 72 | 4.5 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 93 | 71 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 86 | 64 | 4.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 75 | 52 | 5.1 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 63 | 42 | 4.9 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 53 | 35 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Year | 73 | 52 | 57.9 | 74 | 1.1 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hot Springs 1 NNE, AR (626 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 Hot Springs
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 241 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Hot Springs: 171 thunderstorm wind reports, 37 flash floods, 17 lightning strikes, 10 heavy rain events and 6 floods. They killed 3 people and injured 4, and the NWS estimated $7.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on April 25, 2011. Of the 212 Arkansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 168 have had fewer than Hot Springs.
April 15, 2011: thunderstorm wind 7 miles from the centre of Hot Springs — 2 killed, $15,000 damage.
June 5, 2011: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Hot Springs — 1 killed, $25,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds knocked down a few trees and power lines around the 2400 block of Park Ave. (Arkansas Highway 7) in Hot Springs.”
August 5, 2012: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Hot Springs — 1 injured, $2.5 million damage.
NWS: “A microburst struck downtown Hot Springs, doing considerable damage. A hotel had a large hole, approximately 30 feet by 20 feet, punched in its facade.”
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 Hot Springs's 2 ZIP codes have filed 237 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $3.6 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Central U.S. April Flooding in 2025: 13 claims (5% of all) and $285,000. The year with the most claims was 1990, with 33. 14% 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, 93 have fewer than Hot Springs.
| Event | Claims | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Central U.S. April Flooding2025 | 13 | $285,000 |
Garland County, which includes Hot Springs, has been named in 21 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 13 of them major disasters (by incident: 5 severe storms, 4 floods, 4 ice storms, 3 hurricanes). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Garland County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes, hail, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding and heat waves; Relatively Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $57.1 million a year, the 7th highest of 75 Arkansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $28.0 million (49%), 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 Hot Springs
- Pearcy, AR11 mi
- Royal, AR11 mi
- Hot Springs Village, AR13 mi
- Bismarck, AR16 mi
- Malvern, AR16 mi
- Donaldson, AR17 mi
- Arkadelphia, AR26 mi
- Amity, AR28 mi
- Mount Ida, AR30 mi
- Glenwood, AR33 mi
- Bryant, AR33 mi
- Alexander, AR34 mi
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