BlockBefore

Fern, Arkansas

16 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1898 and the latest in 1978. It stands in Black Oak Township. It lies in ZIP code area 72946. It stands on Fern Mountain. The Survey maps it on the Fern quadrangle.

Fern within Franklin County

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 16 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

86 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 86 fires within 5 miles of Fern between 1992 and 2020, burning about 5,347 acres in total. 8 started naturally. 39 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism39
Debris and open burning13
Missing data/not specified/undetermined13
Natural8
Equipment and vehicle use5
Recreation and ceremony5
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Misuse of fire by a minor1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
7 September 1998Arson/incendiarism26 acresOzark-St. Francis National ForestsGRAHAM
27 September 1994Debris and open burning3.0 acresOzark-St. Francis National Forestsnot named
26 September 2013Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsPLYMOUTH
26 September 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsFERN
25 September 2012Debris and open burning2.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
2 September 1995Arson/incendiarismunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsOVERLOOK
8 August 2011Debris and open burning1.0 acresArkansas Forestry Commissionnot named
7 August 2006Naturalunder an acreOzark-St. Francis National ForestsWHITE LIGHTNING

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Franklin County

Storms near this place

14 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fern in 14 storm reports between 1996 and 2024: 9 hail, 2 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
April 1996Tornado (F2)Fern2 hurt, $500,000no account filed
May 2024Tornado (EF1)Fern$30,000This tornado developed over Fern Mountain, and moved east-northeast uprooting and snapping numerous trees, and damaging outbuildings. A tornadic debris signature was detected by the KSRX WSR-88D with this tornado. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindFern$1,000Thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 miles an hour blew several shingles off a roof of a home.
May 1999Thunderstorm WindFern$500Trees were blown down across highways in Fern.
May 2006Flash FloodFern-Thunderstorms produced heavy rain, which caused flooding and the closure of a road near Fern.
April 2014HailFern-no account filed
April 2014HailFern-no account filed
July 2013HailFern-no account filed
February 2013HailFern-no account filed
April 2008HailFern-no account filed
May 2008HailFern-no account filed
May 2003HailFern-no account filed
May 2003HailFern-no account filed
May 2000HailFern-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Franklin County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Piney4.3 miles16
White Rock4.7 miles14
Lone Elm6.9 miles14
Jethro7.2 miles14
Cravens8.2 miles14
Toney8.8 miles14
Paradise9.7 miles15
Fresno (historical)10.2 miles15

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 71604. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.