Lafayette County, Arkansas severe weather history spans 421 recorded events between 1956 and 2026. The dominant hazard is thunderstorm wind, accounting for 48.0% of all recorded events. It ranks #1,169 nationally and #42 in Arkansas.
421
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$4.4M
Property damage
The record
What the Lafayette County, Arkansas severe weather history record shows
Across the archive, Lafayette County, Arkansas severe weather history averages 6.0 recorded events a year. The busiest stretch on record is the 1990s, with 118 events logged in that decade alone. Roughly 59 events fall before 1990 and 362 from 1990 onward — a gap that reflects the expansion of NOAA reporting practice as much as the weather itself.
The deadliest hazard in the Lafayette County, Arkansas record is flood, responsible for 1 direct deaths. The costliest is tornado, with $2.1M in reported property damage. In total, 8 distinct hazard types appear in this county archive, each listed with its own dated record below.
By hazard type
Every hazard type recorded in Lafayette County
| Hazard | Events | Deaths | Damage | Max | Span |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thunderstorm Wind | 202 | 0 | $1.5M | 87 | 1956–2025 |
| Hail | 142 | 0 | $70K | 3 | 1972–2026 |
| Flash Flood | 52 | 0 | $305K | 0 | 1999–2025 |
| Tornado | 19 | 0 | $2.1M | F3 | 1963–2025 |
| Flood | 3 | 1 | $500K | 0 | 2009–2015 |
| Funnel Cloud | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 1997–1997 |
| Heavy Rain | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2023–2023 |
| Heat | 1 | 0 | $0 | 0 | 2019–2019 |
Decade by decade
Lafayette County, Arkansas severe weather history by decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
21 mapped tornado paths intersect this county: 15 touched down inside it and 6 crossed in from a neighbouring county. This comes from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
| Date | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Path length | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985-04-23 | EF3 | 0 | 0 | 13.0 mi | Crossed in |
| 1954-04-30 | EF3 | 0 | 2 | 111.6 mi | Crossed in |
| 1954-04-30 | EF3 | 0 | 1 | 86.3 mi | Crossed in |
| 1963-03-16 | EF2 | 0 | 0 | 5.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.6 mi | Touched down here |
| 2025-04-02 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 0.8 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-04-28 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 1.4 mi | Touched down here |
| 2024-07-08 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 7.1 mi | Crossed in |
| 2023-07-12 | EF1 | 0 | 0 | 2.8 mi | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest events on record in Lafayette County
| Date | Type | Location | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 27, 2009 | Flood | LAKE ERLING | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jun 19, 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | STAMPS | 0 | 2 | $0 |
| Apr 29, 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | STATE LINE | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Oct 9, 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | BRADLEY | 0 | 1 | $10K |
| Jun 11, 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | LEWISVILLE | 0 | 1 | $29K |
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A 30 year old Shongaloo, Louisiana woman drowned during the evening of Tuesday, October 27th in Lake Erling, Arkansas. The woman attempted to go over the spillway on a futon mattress and was supposedly going to ride it on the flood waters running over the spillway. There was approximately 2.5 feet of water going over the spillway at the time. The woman's body was found the next day approximately 75 yards from the spillway. She was caught on the top of a willow tree almost totally submerged by the water.
Upwards of 20 homes wee damaged across the southern half of Lafayette County, Arkansas from thunderstorms winds. The homes were damaged from fallen trees. There were no reports of injuries across the county. Areas around Lake Erling were especially hit hard as trees and powerlines blocked roads and across to some residential areas. At least a mile of Hwy. 53 was littered with debris which had to be removed before emergency personnel could assist a motorist trapped in his truck by a tree tangled in high voltage power lines. One home positioned a the edge of the lake on Laf. 260 had the roof stripped. Another large tree fell on a truck and the tree also clipped an adjacent home. Three trees were also downed on mobile homes in the area. At Sandy Point, it was estimated that three-fourths of the homes had some type of damage. At Cypress Point, most of the homes were reported to have some type of storm damage ranging from roof damage, downed trees, broken windows, dented walls and damaged vehicles.
Hwy. 82 east of Lewisville was closed due to 3 feet of water over the highway. During the height of the storm, the County Judge said that there were only 3 roads in the county that did not have high water over them. So many roads were flooded that the county ran out of barricades, high water and street closed signs. Several cars were flooded and stalled in high water and a woman and child had to be pulled from one car. Some of the major flooding occurred on highways 313 and 53 as well as County Roads 31, 60, 26, 22, 16 and 18. Several homes in the Lewisville area were flooded forcing the evacuation of several people. The rushing water eroded gravel roads, washed out culverts and stranded many residents. Lafayette County was one of 20 counties across the state that were declared disaster areas from rainfall up to the 13th, 14th and 15th of October.
Context
Risk, population and federal disasters
Very Low
FEMA NRI risk rating
6,136
Population (ACS)
$81K
Median home value
21
Federal declarations
| Declared | Incident | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2026 | Winter Storm | SEVERE WINTER STORM | EM |
| May 21, 2025 | Flood | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | DR |
| Apr 5, 2025 | Severe Storm | SEVERE STORMS, TORNADOES, AND FLOODING | EM |
| Aug 27, 2020 | Hurricane | HURRICANE LAURA | EM |
| Apr 3, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 PANDEMIC | DR |
| Mar 13, 2020 | Biological | COVID-19 | EM |
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many severe weather events have been recorded in Lafayette County, Arkansas?
421 events are on record between 1956 and 2026, causing 1 direct deaths and $4.4M in property damage.
What is the most common severe weather hazard in Lafayette County?
Thunderstorm Wind, with 202 recorded events — 48.0% of everything in the archive for this county.
How many tornadoes have crossed Lafayette County?
21 mapped tornado paths intersect the county boundary; 15 of them touched down inside it. This is derived from path geometry, not county-tagged reports.
How many federal disaster declarations cover Lafayette County?
21 federal disaster declarations from FEMA include Lafayette County, each tied to a specific incident period.
How risky is Lafayette County compared with the rest of the country?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Lafayette County as very low risk, placing it in the 33 percentile of its state for expected annual loss.
Where does the Lafayette County, Arkansas severe weather history data come from?
Every figure is drawn from United States federal public-domain records: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events for the event archive, NOAA SPC SVRGIS for mapped tornado paths, FEMA for disaster declarations and risk ratings, and the U.S. Census for population context. Dates are shown in UTC and recent entries may still be revised by NOAA.
Nearby
Neighbouring counties
- Johnson County 549
- Lawrence County 405
- Jefferson County 663
- Lee County 122
- Jackson County 501
- Lincoln County 243
Cite this page
“Lafayette County, Arkansas.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arkansas/lafayette-county/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.