Jul 30, 2024 - Climate

Arkansas' severe weather mapped

Worth Sparkman

Choropleth map of U.S. counties showing the average number of severe weather watches reported per year, from data collected 2004 to 2023. Counties in the Midwest, particularly in Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, have the most severe weather watches. States on the West Coast have little to none. Comanche County in Oklahoma is the highest, with 21 severe thunderstorm or tornado watches reported on average per year. — Data: NOAA; Map: Kavya Beheraj/Axios

Northwest Arkansas averages more severe weather than most of the state, a new National Weather Service analysis finds.

State of play: Crawford, Franklin, Sebastian, Madison and Washington counties averaged 18 severe thunderstorm or tornado watches a year between 2004 and 2023.

Benton and Carroll counties had 17.
The rates are among the highest in the nation and part of a central U.S. zone — spanning Nebraska south to Oklahoma — that sees the most extreme weather.

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Arkansas' severe weather mapped

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