NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Jonesboro, 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 Jonesboro, Arkansas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Olga in 2019. Since 1950, 133 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 18 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 7
- Tornadoes
- 133
- EF3 or stronger
- 18
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
59 deaths in all
What the records show for Jonesboro
None of the 7 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Jonesboro; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 62 mph winds when its centre passed 75 miles away. The record near Jonesboro begins with an unnamed storm in 1888; the most recent system was Olga in 2019, a tropical storm 75 miles away. The busiest decade was the 1900s, with 2 systems. Of the 7 systems, one has come since 2000. Jonesboro has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 54% of the 213 Arkansas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 133 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4 or EF4, reached 4 times; the most recent, on December 10, 2021, came within 9 miles. The deadliest, an F4 on May 15, 1968, killed 35 people. Of the 133, 12 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 58 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 29. The most recent tornado was on May 16, 2025. Jonesboro has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 77% of the 213 Arkansas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 132 times since 1962, with stones up to 3.25 inches. Jonesboro has more hail reports within 10 miles than 77% of the 213 Arkansas cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Jonesboro
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | OlgaOct 26 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 25 | 25 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 17 | 39 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1915 | Unnamed 1915 stormAug 20 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 28 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1906 | Unnamed 1906 stormSep 28 | 26 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 21 | 75 mi | Tropical storm (62 mph) | Category 3 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Jonesboro: 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 Jonesboro
By decade
- 2020s30(3 EF3+)
- 2010s13
- 2000s15
- 1990s30(3 EF3+)
- 1980s12(2 EF3+)
- 1970s15(1 EF3+)
- 1960s6(3 EF3+)
- 1950s12(6 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 1968 | F4 | 1 mi | 20.9 mi | 35 / 364 |
| Dec 10, 2021 | EF4 | 9 mi | 81.17 mi | 8 / 14 |
| Mar 15, 1984 | F4 | 23 mi | 26 mi | 5 / 12 |
| May 26, 1973 | F4 | in town | 54.8 mi | 3 / 289 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F3 | 14 mi | 51.8 mi | 3 / 96 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F3 | 13 mi | 15 mi | 1 / 5 |
| Apr 3, 1968 | F3 | 23 mi | 3.6 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Mar 21, 1952 | F3 | 15 mi | 39.7 mi | 1 / 57 |
| Apr 2, 2025 | EF3 | 12 mi | 24.18 mi | 0 / 8 |
| Mar 28, 2020 | EF3 | 2 mi | 12.53 mi | 0 / 22 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F3 | 13 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 1, 1997 | F3 | 13 mi | 5 mi | 0 / 2 |
The strongest 12 of 133, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Jonesboro
The Storm Prediction Center has 132 hail reports within 10 miles of Jonesboro since 1962, made on 101 separate days. Of these, 92 were 1 inch across or larger, and 7 reached 2 inches. The largest, 3.25 inches, fell on April 15, 2022. The most recent report is from March 30, 2025. May has the most reports, 37.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Jonesboro
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Jonesboro 2 NE, AR, 4 miles northeast of Jonesboro at 310 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 90°F and low of 70°F; January is the coolest, at 46°F and 27°F. May is the wettest at 5.7 inches of precipitation on average and June the driest at 3.4 inches; the year adds up to 52.1 inches over 75 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 60 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 75 nights a year. Snowfall averages 3.9 inches a year, most of it in February and March. That 52.1 inches is more than at 54 of the 95 Arkansas stations used on this site (57%). Bay, 9 miles southeast, has its own station (Jonesboro Municipal Airport, AR): 48.6 inches a year, 3.5 less than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 90°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 46 | 27 | 3.9 | 6 | 1.0 |
| Feb | 51 | 30 | 4.1 | 6 | 1.2 |
| Mar | 60 | 38 | 5.2 | 8 | 1.2 |
| Apr | 71 | 48 | 5.4 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 79 | 57 | 5.7 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 87 | 66 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 90 | 70 | 3.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 89 | 68 | 3.7 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 83 | 60 | 3.5 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 72 | 48 | 4.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 59 | 37 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Dec | 49 | 30 | 4.7 | 7 | 0.4 |
| Year | 70 | 48 | 52.1 | 75 | 3.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Jonesboro 2 NE, AR (310 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 Jonesboro
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 219 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Jonesboro: 152 thunderstorm wind reports, 60 flash floods, 3 floods, 2 heavy rain events and 2 lightning strikes. They killed 2 people and injured 2, and the NWS estimated $6.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 100 mph, on April 2, 2025. Of the 212 Arkansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 191 have had fewer than Jonesboro.
May 24, 2009: flash flood 2 miles from the centre of Jonesboro — 1 killed, $50,000 damage.
NWS: “Heavy rain produced flash flooding in northern parts of Jonesboro in Eastern Arkansas. A boy was swept into a drainage ditch near Burke Avenue and Vine Street and was killed.”
June 5, 2014: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Jonesboro — 1 killed.
May 24, 2016: flash flood 4 miles from the centre of Jonesboro — 1 injured, $2.1 million damage.
NWS: “Street flooding reported in west Jonesboro with 6 to 8 inches of water covering roadways at the intersection of Matthews and Madison roads. Several roadways across town have been closed by Law Enforcement.”
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 Jonesboro's 3 ZIP codes have filed 304 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $7.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2016, with 71. 6% 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, 99 have fewer than Jonesboro.
Craighead County, which includes Jonesboro, has been named in 28 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 22 of them major disasters (by incident: 12 severe storms, 5 floods, 4 tornadoes, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding, on May 21, 2025. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Craighead County a Relatively Moderate rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively High for tornadoes and lightning; Relatively Moderate for inland flooding, strong wind and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $89.6 million a year, the 4th highest of 75 Arkansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $17.6 million (20%), is from tornadoes.
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 Jonesboro
- Bono, AR9 mi
- Bay, AR9 mi
- Brookland, AR10 mi
- Lake City, AR15 mi
- Trumann, AR17 mi
- Harrisburg, AR18 mi
- Paragould, AR20 mi
- Walnut Ridge, AR22 mi
- Hoxie, AR22 mi
- Lepanto, AR25 mi
- Marked Tree, AR26 mi
- Leachville, AR28 mi
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