NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Van Buren, 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
3 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Van Buren, Arkansas since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Ike in 2008. Since 1950, 129 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 13 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 3
- Tornadoes
- 129
- EF3 or stronger
- 13
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
35 deaths in all
What the records show for Van Buren
None of the 3 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Van Buren; the strongest was an unnamed storm in 1902, a tropical storm with 40 mph winds when its centre passed 21 miles away. The record near Van Buren begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Ike in 2008, a tropical storm 31 miles away. Of the 213 Arkansas cities on this site, 77% have more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than Van Buren. The strongest of the 129 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on March 26, 1976; its path came within 17 miles, and it killed 2 people. The deadliest, an F4 on April 19, 1968, killed 14 people. Of the 129, 19 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 64 have come since 2000. May has had the most tornadoes, 41. The most recent tornado was on June 7, 2025. Van Buren has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 73% of the 213 Arkansas cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 330 times since 1965, with stones up to 4.5 inches (grapefruit size). Van Buren has more hail reports within 10 miles than 96% of the 213 Arkansas cities.
Compare Van Buren's storm record with another city →
Tropical storms and hurricanes near Van Buren
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | IkeSep 14 | 31 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1961 | CarlaSep 13 | 33 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 28 | 21 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Van Buren: 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 Van Buren
By decade
- 2020s21
- 2010s34
- 2000s9
- 1990s19(2 EF3+)
- 1980s10(1 EF3+)
- 1970s6(1 EF3+)
- 1960s14(5 EF3+)
- 1950s16(4 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 26, 1976 | F5 | 17 mi | 11.9 mi | 2 / 64 |
| Apr 19, 1968 | F4 | 18 mi | 2 mi | 14 / 270 |
| Jan 22, 1957 | F4 | 19 mi | 0.1 mi | 10 / 20 |
| May 5, 1960 | F4 | 9 mi | 5.4 mi | 5 / 13 |
| Apr 21, 1996 | F3 | in town | 10.1 mi | 2 / 89 |
| May 5, 1960 | F3 | 20 mi | 23.7 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 5, 1960 | F3 | 5 mi | 4.5 mi | 1 / 0 |
| May 4, 1999 | F3 | 14 mi | 38.2 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Dec 2, 1982 | F3 | 7 mi | 1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Apr 14, 1960 | F3 | 4 mi | 13.6 mi | 0 / 3 |
| May 20, 1957 | F3 | 23 mi | 20.4 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Apr 30, 1954 | F3 | 12 mi | 40.7 mi | 0 / 1 |
The strongest 12 of 129, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Van Buren
The Storm Prediction Center has 330 hail reports within 10 miles of Van Buren since 1965, made on 188 separate days. Of these, 150 were 1 inch across or larger, and 19 reached 2 inches. The largest, 4.5 inches (grapefruit size), fell on March 5, 1999. The most recent report is from September 21, 2025. April has the most reports, 104.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Van Buren
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Fort Smith Regional Airport, AR, 9 miles south of Van Buren at 449 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 94°F and low of 72°F; January is the coolest, at 51°F and 30°F. May is the wettest at 5.6 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 47.4 inches over 66 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 78 days a year, almost all from May to October. Lows fall below freezing on about 63 nights a year. Snowfall averages 2.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 47.4 inches is more than at 7 of the 95 Arkansas stations used on this site (7%). Rudy, 8 miles north, has its own station (Mountainburg 2 NE, AR): 53.6 inches a year, 6.2 more than here, and a July average high of 92°F against 94°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 51 | 30 | 2.9 | 5 | 1.4 |
| Feb | 57 | 33 | 2.7 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Mar | 66 | 42 | 3.9 | 6 | 0.3 |
| Apr | 75 | 50 | 4.9 | 7 | 0.0 |
| May | 81 | 60 | 5.6 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 89 | 68 | 4.6 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 94 | 72 | 3.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 94 | 71 | 3.6 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 87 | 63 | 4.0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 76 | 51 | 4.4 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Nov | 63 | 40 | 3.9 | 5 | 0.0 |
| Dec | 53 | 32 | 3.5 | 5 | 0.6 |
| Year | 74 | 51 | 47.4 | 66 | 2.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Fort Smith Regional Airport, AR (449 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 Van Buren
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 489 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Van Buren: 361 thunderstorm wind reports, 90 flash floods and 38 floods. They killed 2 people and injured 8, and the NWS estimated $3.6 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 85 mph, on May 7, 2024. May has had the most flash floods, 23 of 90. Of the 212 Arkansas cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 204 have had fewer than Van Buren.
May 11, 2015: flood 7 miles from the centre of Van Buren — 1 killed.
May 22, 2019: flood 3 miles from the centre of Van Buren — 1 killed.
NWS: “Near catastrophic flooding occurred along the Arkansas River with residential subdivisions and businesses flooded in Fort Smith. Numerous roads were closed.”
February 20, 1997: thunderstorm wind 2 miles from the centre of Van Buren — 3 injured, $170,000 damage.
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 Van Buren's ZIP code 72956 have filed 57 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $1.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The year with the most claims was 2015, with 18. 26% 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, 69 have fewer than Van Buren.
Crawford County, which includes Van Buren, has been named in 26 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1968, 17 of them major disasters (by incident: 9 severe storms, 5 floods, 4 ice storms, 2 biological emergencies). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on April 3, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Crawford County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, lightning and heat waves; Relatively Low for hail, inland flooding and strong wind; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $29.9 million a year, the 16th highest of 75 Arkansas counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $13.3 million (45%), 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.