Power outage history
Washington County Arkansas
2.5hours
without power for the average customer in a typical year, 2018–2025
70th most of 73 in Arkansas 61% below the national median
Every day since 2015
Eleven years, one night at a time
Each cell is a day. The brighter it is, the larger the share of Washington's customers who were without power at that day's worst moment.
Year by year
Hours in the dark, per customer
2023 was the worst well-recorded year, at 5.1 hours for the average customer. Hatched years have a thin record and are left out of the averages.
Washington, hours without power per customer
The record
The biggest outages since 2015
Ranked by customer-hours lost: customers out multiplied by how long they stayed out. Times are local.
| Began | Storm | Peak out | Share | Lasted | 90% restored | Customer-hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 24, 2023 | Winter storm | 19,870 | 13% | 43 h | 29 h | 459k |
| May 19, 2025 | Tornadoes | 24,668 | 16% | 44 h | 4.2 h | 299k |
| Nov 30, 2018 | Thunderstorms | 18,049 | 12% | 16 h | 13 h | 146k |
| Mar 30, 2022 | Tornadoes | 11,571 | 8% | 34 h | 34 h | 122k |
| May 18, 2025 | Thunderstorms | 13,067 | 9% | 24 h | 10 h | 111k |
| Aug 18, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 4,581 | 3% | 16 h | – | 42k |
| Feb 16, 2021 | No storm report | 8,388 | 6% | 7.5 h | 4.5 h | 33k |
| Aug 18, 2017 | Thunderstorms | 6,189 | 4% | 6.8 h | 17 h | 31k |
| Apr 10, 2018 | No storm report | 6,357 | 4% | 4.2 h | 3.8 h | 27k |
| Sep 1, 2024 | No storm report | 18,827 | 13% | 2.5 h | 2.5 h | 25k |
| Oct 31, 2024 | Tornadoes | 2,451 | 2% | 8.8 h | – | 17k |
| Jul 26, 2021 | No storm report | 6,524 | 4% | 3.0 h | 12 min | 16k |
| Nov 14, 2022 | Winter storm | 6,063 | 4% | 7.0 h | 4.5 h | 16k |
| Jun 18, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 3,403 | 2% | 6.8 h | – | 15k |
| Jan 21, 2019 | No storm report | 3,860 | 3% | 4.2 h | – | 13k |
| Aug 13, 2021 | Thunderstorms | 13,970 | 9% | 1.0 h | 12 min | 12k |
| Feb 15, 2021 | Winter storm | 6,639 | 4% | 1.8 h | 30 min | 12k |
| Aug 4, 2021 | No storm report | 7,650 | 5% | 1.5 h | 48 min | 11k |
| Mar 14, 2024 | Thunderstorms | 11,683 | 8% | 2.0 h | 2.0 h | 11k |
| Aug 28, 2016 | No storm report | 4,223 | 3% | 3.8 h | – | 11k |
| Oct 26, 2016 | No storm report | 4,580 | 3% | 2.2 h | – | 10k |
| Aug 26, 2019 | Thunderstorms | 5,328 | 4% | 2.5 h | 1.8 h | 10k |
| Apr 24, 2021 | No storm report | 4,821 | 3% | 2.0 h | – | 9.6k |
| Jan 11, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 7,456 | 5% | 1.5 h | 30 min | 9.3k |
| Jul 2, 2024 | No storm report | 3,995 | 3% | 2.2 h | – | 9.0k |
| Jun 14, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 4,577 | 3% | 3.0 h | – | 8.9k |
| Aug 21, 2022 | Thunderstorms | 3,040 | 2% | 3.2 h | – | 8.6k |
| Sep 21, 2017 | No storm report | 4,177 | 3% | 2.0 h | – | 8.3k |
| May 12, 2016 | No storm report | 2,277 | 2% | 3.5 h | – | 8.0k |
| Aug 11, 2023 | Thunderstorms | 2,645 | 2% | 3.2 h | – | 7.5k |
After the peak
How fast the lights come back
Each line is one major outage, from its peak. The amber line is the typical path.
When it happens
The outage clock
Customer-hours out by month (rings, January innermost) and local hour, 2018–2025.
What was happening
Weather behind the outages
Each outage is matched to NOAA storm reports for Washington from twelve hours before it began to its peak. Matching shows coincidence, not proof of cause.
- Winter storm 28%
- Tornadoes 25%
- Thunderstorms 24%
- No storm on record 23%
Who keeps the lights on
Utilities serving Washington
As each utility reports to the Energy Information Administration for its whole Arkansas territory, not this county alone. Outage minutes include major storm days.
| Utility | Type | Outage min / yr | Excl. major storms | Outages / yr | Residential ¢/kWh | Customers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwestern Electric Power Co | Investor Owned | 428 | 212 | 1.84 | 12.1 | 110k |
| Carroll Electric Coop Corp | Cooperative | 224 | 142 | 2.43 | 13.4 | 105k |
| Ozarks Electric Coop Corp | Cooperative | 676 | 50 | 1.68 | 13.7 | 74k |
| Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co | Investor Owned | 217 | 155 | 1.63 | 11.7 | 59k |
| Arkansas Valley Elec Coop Corp | Cooperative | 322 | 250 | 2.85 | 14.1 | 55k |
EIA Form 861, latest year each utility reported. Outage minutes are SAIDI, the yearly minutes the average customer goes without power; outages a year are SAIFI.
Next door
Neighbouring counties
About these numbers
Notes
Outages come from the EAGLE-I record of utility outage maps collected every 15 minutes by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hours without power are customer-hours divided by the county's 149,990 electricity customers. Averages use well-covered years from 2018. Outages shorter than 15 minutes, and utilities that publish no outage map, are not in the record, so these figures understate the total. How every number is made →