NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Monticello, 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
12 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Monticello, Arkansas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Laura in 2020. Since 1950, 66 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 6 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 12
- Tornadoes
- 66
- EF3 or stronger
- 6
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
13 deaths in all
What the records show for Monticello
None of the 12 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Monticello; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1888, a tropical storm with 69 mph winds when its centre passed 62 miles away. The record near Monticello begins with an unnamed storm in 1865; the most recent system was Laura in 2020, a tropical storm 52 miles away. The 1880s and the 1900s were the busiest decades, with 2 systems each. Of the 12 systems, one has come since 2000. Monticello has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 94% of the 213 Arkansas cities on this site. The highest rating among the 66 tornadoes within 25 miles is F4, reached 2 times; the most recent, on March 28, 1975, came within 18 miles. Of the 66, 5 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 36 have come since 2000. April has had the most tornadoes, 15. The most recent tornado was on January 5, 2025. Of the 213 Arkansas cities, 90% have more tornadoes within 25 miles than Monticello. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 63 times since 1957, with stones up to 2.75 inches (baseball size). Of the 213 Arkansas cities, 69% have more hail reports within 10 miles than Monticello.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Monticello
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | LauraAug 27 | 52 mi | Tropical storm (49 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1965 | BetsySep 11 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1957 | AudreyJun 28 | 38 mi | Tropical storm (47 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1941 | Unnamed 1941 stormSep 24 | 63 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1923 | Unnamed 1923 stormOct 16 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (52 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1909 | Unnamed 1909 stormSep 21 | 18 mi | Tropical storm (60 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1905 | Unnamed 1905 stormSep 30 | 6 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Tropical storm |
| 1891 | Unnamed 1891 stormJul 7 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
| 1888 | Unnamed 1888 stormAug 20 | 62 mi | Tropical storm (69 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1886 | Unnamed 1886 stormOct 13 | 72 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 1879 | Unnamed 1879 stormAug 23 | 70 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 2 |
| 1865 | Unnamed 1865 stormSep 14 | 75 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 Monticello: 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 Monticello
By decade
- 2020s6
- 2010s10
- 2000s20(2 EF3+)
- 1980s8
- 1970s14(1 EF3+)
- 1960s3(2 EF3+)
- 1950s5(1 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 28, 1975 | F4 | 18 mi | 5.4 mi | 7 / 51 |
| Apr 3, 1968 | F4 | 21 mi | 33.7 mi | 5 / 16 |
| Feb 24, 2007 | EF3 | 8 mi | 29.1 mi | 0 / 28 |
| Feb 24, 2001 | F3 | 20 mi | 42 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Feb 9, 1965 | F3 | 21 mi | 1.5 mi | 0 / 1 |
| May 23, 1957 | F3 | 2 mi | 5.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Oct 17, 1980 | F2 | 12 mi | 1.5 mi | 1 / 2 |
| Jan 2, 2023 | EF2 | 24 mi | 42.77 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Mar 27, 2021 | EF2 | 4 mi | 1.6 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Jan 11, 2020 | EF2 | 24 mi | 20.51 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 21, 2013 | EF2 | 24 mi | 40.79 mi | 0 / 2 |
| Mar 14, 2008 | EF2 | 14 mi | 9.4 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 66, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Monticello
The Storm Prediction Center has 63 hail reports within 10 miles of Monticello since 1957, made on 46 separate days. Of these, 31 were 1 inch across or larger, and 2 reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.75 inches (baseball size), fell on April 21, 1996. The most recent report is from May 4, 2024. April has the most reports, 20.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Monticello
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Monticello Municipal Airport, AR, 1 mile north of Monticello at 290 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 92°F and low of 73°F; January is the coolest, at 54°F and 34°F. April is the wettest at 6.0 inches of precipitation on average and September the driest at 2.8 inches; the year adds up to 53.1 inches over 68 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 40% of the year's precipitation (21.4 of 53.1 inches); the other six months are wetter. September has brought the most of the 12 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (5); a normal September there has highs of 87°F and 2.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 82 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 51 nights a year. Snowfall averages 0.7 inches a year, most of it in January. That 53.1 inches is more than at 60 of the 95 Arkansas stations used on this site (63%). Dermott, 18 miles east, has its own station (Dermott 3 NE, AR): 56.4 inches a year, 3.3 more than here, and a July average high of 91°F against 92°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 54 | 34 | 4.6 | 7 | 0.6 |
| Feb | 58 | 38 | 5.0 | 7 | 0.1 |
| Mar | 67 | 45 | 5.5 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Apr | 75 | 53 | 6.0 | 6 | 0.0 |
| May | 82 | 62 | 4.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 70 | 3.8 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 92 | 73 | 3.2 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 92 | 72 | 3.0 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 87 | 65 | 2.8 | 4 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 77 | 53 | 4.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 65 | 43 | 4.3 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 56 | 37 | 5.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Year | 75 | 54 | 53.1 | 68 | 0.7 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Monticello Municipal Airport, AR (290 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 Monticello
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 139 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Monticello: 101 thunderstorm wind reports, 22 flash floods, 8 lightning strikes, 7 heavy rain events and 1 flood. They killed 0 people and injured 3, and the NWS estimated $1.3 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 96 mph, on January 11, 2020. Of the 212 Arkansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 121 have had fewer than Monticello.
June 25, 2008: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Monticello — 1 injured, $100,000 damage.
NWS: “Large trees were blown down, and one of the trees fell into a house.”
April 9, 2009: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Monticello — 1 injured, $60,000 damage.
NWS: “A mobile home was overturned, injuring one person, and another mobile home was damaged. Approximately 15 large trees were blown down.”
January 29, 2013: lightning strike 1 mile from the centre of Monticello — 1 injured.
NWS: “A person inside a house was shocked by lightning. The person was not transported to a hospital.”
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 Monticello's ZIP code 71655 have filed 28 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 2004, and were paid $213,000 for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. 21% 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, 43 have fewer than Monticello.
Drew County, which includes Monticello, has been named in 20 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1973, 14 of them major disasters (by incident: 7 severe storms, 3 hurricanes, 2 biological emergencies, 2 floods). The latest major disaster declaration was Severe Winter Storm, on April 4, 2023. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Drew County a Very Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for strong wind; Relatively Low for tornadoes, hail, lightning and heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes and inland flooding. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $7.1 million a year, the 62nd highest of 75 Arkansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $1.5 million (20%), 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 Monticello
- Dermott, AR18 mi
- Warren, AR18 mi
- Mc Gehee, AR22 mi
- Star City, AR23 mi
- Dumas, AR25 mi
- Hamburg, AR27 mi
- Gould, AR29 mi
- Rison, AR31 mi
- Lake Village, AR34 mi
- Crossett, AR36 mi
- Fordyce, AR41 mi
- Hampton, AR42 mi
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