Tornado Risk in Union County, AR
How likely is a tornado in Union County, AR?
40 tornado tracks have crossed Union County since 1950 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 1.9 years - the High band on this site's scale. That is the 80th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Arkansas has 75 counties in this dataset; Union County ranks 16 of them by frequency.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Union County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 40 recorded tracks, 28 were weak (EF0-1) and 11 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Arkansas does not currently have a confirmed state rebate layered on top of FEMA's 75% Hazard Mitigation cost-share, so a Union County homeowner should expect the full national range: $2,890-$13,280, $7,645 typical.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
37,008 people live in Union County, and a tornado outbreak's power loss usually reaches far more of Arkansas than the tracks themselves touch. A portable battery unit is the faster, no-fuel way to bridge that outage.
What Union County's figure does not tell you
Union County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Union County covers about 1,039 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Union County has about 37,008 residents.