States › Arkansas › Saline County

Saline County, Arkansas

Recorded hazard history: storm events since 1950, federal disaster declarations since 1953, flood insurance claims since 1978, and FEMA's risk index.

FIPS 05125 · 125,233 residents (2021) · 724 sq mi · dominant hazard Wind

Hail · 291Tornado · 56Flood · 133Wind · 348Winter · 73

Saline County within Arkansas. Dots: HailTornadoFloodWind event locations in the kept record. Boundaries: US Census Bureau.

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders. NCEI storm records through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA declarations refreshed 1 Oct 2026; NFIP claims as of 8 Sep 2026.

Saline County, Arkansas, has 976 weather events in the NCEI Storm Events record since 1950, most of them damaging wind.

That is 134.9 events per 100 square miles, above the Arkansas figure of 94.2, and 77.9 per 10,000 residents against 161.8 statewide.

13 events fall in the 12 months to 30 Jun 2026. NCEI attributes 16 deaths and 129 injuries to events in the county, with property damage estimated at $155M and crop damage at $3.0M.

FEMA has designated the county in 23 federal disaster declarations since 1953; the most recent is Severe Winter Storm (emergency, 24 Jan 2026).

National Flood Insurance Program policyholders in the county filed 275 claims since 1978, of which 243 were paid, totalling $7.7M (about $31K per paid claim). FEMA counts 237 residential flood policies in force.

FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county's overall risk as "Relatively Low" and its expected annual loss as "Relatively Low" ($41M a year across 18 hazards).

9 tropical storm or hurricane tracks in the HURDAT2 record passed within 100 miles of the county's centre at tropical-storm strength or more, 0 of them within 50 miles at hurricane strength.

13events, last 12 monthsto 30 Jun 2026

976events since 195016 deaths, 129 injuries recorded

23disaster declarationslast 24 Jan 2026

275NFIP flood claims$7.7M paid

Compared with Arkansas and the United States

Measure	Saline County	Arkansas	US
Recorded events since 1950	976	48,966	1,977,440
Events per 100 square miles	134.9	94.2	56.0
Events per 10,000 residents	77.9	161.8	59.6
Events in the last 12 months	13	1,151	62,008
Deaths recorded by NCEI	16	668	26,435
Property damage (NCEI estimates)	$155M	$6.4B	$575B
NFIP claims per 1,000 residents	2.2	3.4	8.1
Average paid NFIP claim	$31K	$27K	$43K
Claims per 100 policies in force, last 10 years	29.1	23.0	16.1

County-recorded events plus zone-recorded events whose forecast zone is named for the county. State and US rows include events recorded only by forecast zone. Rates use 2021 Census population and land area.

Events by decade

Hail: 4Tornado: 3Wind: 2

Hail: 6Wind: 6

Hail: 9Tornado: 2Wind: 8

Hail: 20Tornado: 8Wind: 29

Hail: 59Tornado: 9Flood: 6Wind: 82Winter: 4Lightning: 3

Hail: 77Tornado: 17Flood: 40Wind: 70Winter: 17Tropical: 3Heat: 1Cold: 5Drought: 1Wildfire: 1Lightning: 3Other: 2

Hail: 78Tornado: 13Flood: 55Wind: 113Winter: 32Tropical: 2Heat: 8Cold: 1Drought: 17Wildfire: 4Lightning: 3Other: 14

Hail: 38Tornado: 4Flood: 32Wind: 38Winter: 20Other: 7

91950s121960s191970s571980s1631990s2372000s3402010s1392020s

Recorded events in Saline County by decade and hazard group. HailTornadoFloodWindWinterTropicalHeatColdDroughtWildfireLightningOther NCEI recorded only tornadoes, hail and thunderstorm wind before 1996.

Trend: 588 events in the 20 years to 2025 against 302 in the 20 years before. Reporting practice changed in 1996 and again with automated reports in the 2000s, so decade totals measure the record as much as the weather.

Events by type

Wind348

Hail291

Flood133

Winter73

Tornado56

Other23

Drought18

Heat9

Lightning9

Cold6

Tropical5

Wildfire5

Hazard	Events	Deaths	Share of state's events
■ Wind	348	1	2.0%	detail
■ Hail	291	—	2.3%	detail
■ Flood	133	1	2.3%	detail
■ Winter	73	1	1.6%	detail
■ Tornado	56	12	2.2%	detail
■ Other	23	—	3.4%
■ Drought	18	—	1.0%
■ Heat	9	—	0.3%
■ Lightning	9	1	2.3%
■ Cold	6	—	1.3%
■ Tropical	5	—	1.8%
■ Wildfire	5	—	2.8%

Hazard pages exist for hail, tornado, flood, wind and winter where the county has at least 10 recorded events. "Other" covers heavy rain, debris flow, dust, funnel clouds and similar reports.

Largest recorded events

Date	Event type	Group	Magnitude	Property damage	Crop damage	Deaths	Injuries	Geography
1 Mar 1997	Tornado	Tornado	F4	$25M	—	10	40	County
2 Dec 1982	Tornado	Tornado	F3	$25M	—	1	28	County
14 Mar 1959	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$250K	—	1	7	County
25 Dec 2012	Winter Storm	Winter	—	$10M	—	1	—	Forecast zone
1 May 2010	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$30K	—	1	—	County
23 Aug 1988	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	0 mph	—	—	1	—	County
3 Aug 1998	Lightning	Lightning	—	—	—	1	—	County
18 Oct 2004	Tornado	Tornado	F2	—	—	—	11	County
18 Feb 2000	Tornado	Tornado	F1	—	—	—	9	County
30 Apr 2010	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$3.0M	—	—	8	County
20 Jul 2009	Flash Flood	Flood	—	$150K	—	—	7	County
27 Oct 1995	Tornado	Tornado	F2	—	—	—	6	County
23 Nov 1973	Tornado	Tornado	F1	$25K	—	—	4	County
15 Nov 1988	Tornado	Tornado	F2	$25M	—	—	—	County
4 Jun 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	58 mph	—	—	—	2	County
28 Jun 2012	Wildfire	Wildfire	—	—	—	—	2	Forecast zone
24 May 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Wind	70 mph	—	—	—	2	County
3 Apr 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$5.0M	—	—	1	County
3 Apr 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF1	$5.0M	—	—	1	County
2 May 2008	Tornado	Tornado	EF2	$1.0M	—	—	1	County

Ranked by deaths, then injuries, then NCEI's damage estimate. Deaths and injuries are NCEI counts (direct plus indirect); no personal details are recorded here.

Federal disaster declarations

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Programs
24 Jan 2026	EM-3636	Emergency	Winter Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
21 May 2025	DR-4873	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
5 Apr 2025	EM-3627	Emergency	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
27 Aug 2020	EM-3541	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Laura	Public assistance
3 Apr 2020	DR-4518	Major disaster	Biological	Covid-19 Pandemic	Individual assistance, Public assistance
13 Mar 2020	EM-3461	Emergency	Biological	Covid-19	Public assistance
15 Jun 2017	DR-4318	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-Line Winds, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
29 Jan 2013	DR-4100	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
2 May 2011	DR-1975	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Associated Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
16 Jun 2009	DR-1845	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Public assistance
28 Jan 2009	EM-3301	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Storm	Public assistance
18 Sep 2008	DR-1793	Major disaster	Hurricane	Severe Storms And Flooding Associated With Hurricane Gustav	Public assistance
20 May 2008	DR-1758	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes	Individual assistance
26 Mar 2008	DR-1751	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Sep 2005	EM-3215	Emergency	Hurricane	Hurricane Katrina Evacuation	Public assistance
29 Dec 2000	DR-1354	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Ice Storm	Individual assistance, Public assistance
28 Dec 2000	EM-3159	Emergency	Severe Ice Storm	Severe Winter Ice Storm	Public assistance
23 Jan 1999	DR-1266	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Ar Severe Weather 1-21-99	Individual assistance, Public assistance
2 Mar 1997	DR-1162	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms And Tornadoes	Individual assistance, Public assistance
23 Nov 1988	DR-817	Major disaster	Tornado	Severe Storms & Tornadoes	Individual assistance
13 Dec 1982	DR-673	Major disaster	Severe Storm	Severe Storms, Tornadoes & Flooding	Individual assistance
15 Sep 1978	DR-564	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance
27 Apr 1973	DR-375	Major disaster	Flood	Severe Storms & Flooding	Individual assistance, Public assistance

Declarations in which FEMA designated this county, from the OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2). DR: major disaster; EM: emergency; FM: fire management assistance. Programs show whether individual or public assistance was made available.

Flood insurance claims

197820022026

NFIP claims by year of loss in Saline County, 1978 to 2026 (hover for the amount paid).

Claims since 1978275

Paid claims243

Total paid$7.7M

Average paid claim$31K

Repetitive-loss properties368 severe

Residential policies in force2370.5% of 47,767 structures

Year of loss	Claims	Paid claims	Amount paid	Average paid
2025	11	10	$1,073,067	$107,307
2024	15	15	$936,835	$62,456
2022	4	3	$53,881	$17,960
2021	12	9	$447,020	$49,669
2020	4	4	$603,496	$150,874
2019	9	8	$708,759	$88,595
2018	1	1	$56,416	$56,416
2017	13	11	$205,754	$18,705
2016	1	1	$4,845	$4,845
2015	2	2	$20,557	$10,278
2014	2	2	$20,799	$10,399
2013	2	2	$19,773	$9,886
2012	2	1	$53,781	$53,781
2011	6	6	$339,038	$56,506
2010	2	2	$98,300	$49,150
2009	43	38	$1,300,635	$34,227
2008	23	22	$955,844	$43,447
2006	1	1	$10,337	$10,337
2003	3	2	$11,270	$5,635
2002	2	2	$4,822	$2,411
2001	1	0	$0	—
1998	1	1	$808	$808
1996	7	5	$15,521	$3,104
1990	3	3	$12,763	$4,254
1989	28	27	$296,217	$10,971

OpenFEMA NFIP claims (v3, as of 8 Sep 2026), aggregated by year of loss; amounts are building, contents and increased-cost-of-compliance payments as recorded. Repetitive-loss counts from the NFIP Multiple Loss Properties file (2 Aug 2026); policies in force from the NFIP Residential Penetration Rates file (3 Aug 2026).

National Risk Index

Overall riskRelatively Lowscore 77.6 of 100

Expected annual loss$41MRelatively Low

Social vulnerabilityRelatively Low

Community resilienceRelatively Moderate

Hazard (NRI)	Risk rating	Expected annual loss
Inland flooding	Relatively Moderate	$17,262,588
Tornado	Relatively Moderate	$7,211,008
Earthquake	Relatively Low	$5,104,230
Heat wave	Relatively Moderate	$4,136,322
Ice storm	Very High	$1,964,436
Hail	Relatively Moderate	$1,564,239
Lightning	Relatively High	$1,093,760
Cold wave	Relatively Low	$972,642
Strong wind	Relatively Moderate	$957,064
Winter weather	Relatively Moderate	$243,757
Hurricane	Very Low	$143,625
Wildfire	Very Low	$101,165
Drought	Very Low	$14,503
Landslide	Relatively Low	$13,038

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 release. Ratings are FEMA's relative comparison of counties; expected annual loss is FEMA's modelled estimate of average yearly building, population and agriculture loss. See how to read the NRI.

Hurricane and tropical storm passes

Tracks within 100 miles9

Tracks within 50 miles4

Hurricane strength within 50 miles0

Storm	Year	Closest approach	Max wind while within 100 mi
Laura	2020	20 mi	40 mph
Ike	2008	83 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1941	85 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1915	41 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1909	82 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1905	54 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1891	69 mi	40 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1879	18 mi	46 mph
Unnamed Atlantic storm	1865	49 mi	46 mph

HURDAT2 best-track positions at tropical-storm strength (34 kt) or more, measured from the county's Census centre point; through the 2025 season. Distance from a track is not the same as the extent of the storm's wind, rain or surge.

ZIP codes with flood claims

72103 111
72015 60
72022 50
72019 37
72002 15

ZIP codes whose NFIP claims carry this county's code, with the number of claims. Five or more claims are needed for a ZIP page to be indexed.

Questions and answers

How often does it hail in Saline County, AR?

NCEI records 291 hail events in Saline County since 1950, in 54 different years; that is about 3.8 recorded events a year. 74 reports were golf-ball size (1.75 in) or larger.

Has Saline County had a tornado?

Yes. NCEI records 56 tornadoes in Saline County since 1950, 25 of them rated (E)F2 or stronger. Tornado deaths recorded: 12.

When was the last federal disaster declaration for Saline County?

24 Jan 2026: Severe Winter Storm, a emergency declaration for winter storm. The county appears in 23 declarations since 1953.

How many flood insurance claims have been filed in Saline County, and how much was paid?

275 NFIP claims since 1978, 243 of them paid, for $7.7M in total. FEMA publishes these figures redacted and aggregated; individual properties are not identified.

Is Saline County in the National Risk Index's high-risk band?

FEMA's National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the county "Relatively Low" for overall risk, "Relatively Low" for expected annual loss, "Relatively Low" for social vulnerability and "Relatively Moderate" for community resilience. These ratings are FEMA's relative comparison across all US counties.

How does Saline County compare with the rest of Arkansas?

134.9 recorded events per 100 square miles against 94.2 statewide, and 2.2 NFIP claims per 1,000 residents against 3.4. The comparison table on this page shows each measure beside the state and national figures.

Provenance

Storm events: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, yearly details files through 30 Jun 2026 (public domain). Declarations: OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2, refreshed 1 Oct 2026. Flood claims: OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 as of 8 Sep 2026; NfipMultipleLossProperties v1 (2 Aug 2026); NfipResidentialPenetrationRates v1 (3 Aug 2026). Risk index: FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025. Hurricane tracks: NHC HURDAT2 through 2025. Population and area: US Census Bureau, 2021 vintage. Built 1 Oct 2026; see the methodology and corrections pages. Hazard hubs: Hail · Tornado · Flood · Wind · Winter.