Tahlequah

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond this area.
2. Weak tornadoes were under-recorded before Doppler radar coverage became national in the early 1990s, so earlier decades read low. Ratings use the Fujita scale before February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita scale after.

Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025.

Every storm within 100 miles

1. Tropical storms and hurricanes (34 kt or more, still tropical) at closest approach. Post-tropical remnants with gale-force winds are listed but not counted. Direct: track within 50 miles; near: within 100 miles. Distance is measured to the county boundary for counties and to the city centre for cities, using positions interpolated hourly between HURDAT2 fixes.

National Hurricane Center HURDAT2, 1851 to 2025.

Every large fire

1. Large fires mapped by the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity program since 1984: 1,000 acres or more in the West, 500 or more in the East. Prescribed burns are excluded. Acres here are the part of each perimeter inside this place.

Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), 1984 to 2026.

Smoke overhead

1. A smoke day is a date on which a smoke plume traced by NOAA Hazard Mapping System analysts from satellite imagery covered this place's point (the county's population centre or the city centre). Counts here are of medium or heavy smoke. Since 2018 analysts have often drawn light smoke as one area over most of the continent, so light-smoke counts are not comparable from year to year. The plumes show smoke anywhere in the air above, not air quality at the ground, and smoke hidden by cloud is missed.

NOAA Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, 2011 to 2026, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Flood insurance figures are for Cherokee County, the county that contains Tahlequah.

Claims by ZIP code

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026. NOAA Storm Events through 2026.

River crests

River gauges in Cherokee County, the county that contains Tahlequah.

River gauges

1. Crests are the highest and the recent crests the National Weather Service lists for each river gauge in the county that has a flood stage, not every flood. Flood categories use each gauge's current flood stages; crests from before levees, dams or channel changes may not be comparable. Crests measured on an old datum are left out of the rankings.

NOAA National Water Prediction Service gauge records, retrieved October 30, 2026.

The drought index is for Cherokee County, the county that contains Tahlequah.

1. The Palmer Drought Severity Index is computed by NOAA each month from the county's average temperature and precipitation, relative to the county's own climate. Zero is normal; -3 or lower is severe drought and -4 or lower extreme drought. It describes the long-term balance of moisture, not water supply or crop losses.

NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, 1895 to September 2026, issued October 6, 2026.

1. Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more in the USGS Comprehensive Catalog since 1900. Within 50 miles means the epicentre lies within 50 miles of the city centre.
2. Small earthquakes were under-recorded before the modern seismic networks of the 1970s and are still missed in remote areas, so early decades read low. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them and mix scales (moment, local and body-wave).

USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, 1900 to present, retrieved October 30, 2026.

Mapped landslides

Landslides mapped in Cherokee County.

Mapped by NASA (1).

1. Landslides mapped in the USGS compilation of landslide inventories across the United States (version 3.0, 2025), rated probable or better. The compilation joins inventories made by federal and state agencies for different purposes and areas, so the number mapped in a county reflects how closely it has been surveyed as much as how often its slopes fail. An area with few records may simply not have been mapped. Deaths are as recorded in the inventories; a slide listed in two inventories is counted once.

USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0, retrieved October 27, 2026.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. Dec 9, 2007Ice Storm, Cherokee$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to one half inch of ice accumulated on trees, power lines, and other exposed surfaces.

2. Jan 26, 2009Winter Storm, Cherokee$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Upper level disturbances passing through the Southern Plains resulted in precipitation development north of a stationary arctic front located in North Texas. Freezing rain began across the area during the late morning hours of the 26th and became more widespread and heavy during the afternoon and evening hours. Freezing rain changed to sleet north of a Okemah-Wagoner-Colcord line during the morning of the 27th with heavy freezing rain continuing south of that line. The heaviest icing and most widespread power outages and tree damage occurred across portions of Cherokee, Sequoyah, Muskogee, and Adair Counties where one to one and a half inches of ice accumulated. More than 100,000…

3. Nov 30, 2018Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the second segment of a six segment tornado. This long-track tornado moved into Cherokee County near an inlet of Lake Tenkiller, where boat docks, lake homes, boats, and outbuildings were destroyed, and trees and power poles were snapped. The tornado moved north-northeast along the eastern shores of Lake Tenkiller, passing through Cookson and Cherokee Landing State Park. Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed, numerous boat docks were destroyed, many boats were destroyed, outbuildings were destroyed, many trees and power poles were snapped, and hangars at the airport west of Cookson were destroyed. From Lake Tenkiller, the tornado continued to move north-northeast across…

4. Jun 1, 1999Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong tornado, rated an F3, touched down in far western Cherokee County, possibly as a waterspout on Fort Gibson Lake. The tornado moved south onshore and through the rural Amber Hills housing area, crossing OK Hwy 51, and lifting after tracking through much of the Sequoyah State Park.In the Amber Hills and Hammer Hill Road areas, a total of 68 homes sustained some form of damage. Of that, 17 single family dwellings and 13 mobile homes were destroyed. Eight single family dwellings sustained major damage and 11 others had minor damage. One mobile home sustained minor damage. Fourteen other single family dwellings and four other mobile homes were affected. In one of the destroyed…

5. Jan 12, 2007Winter Storm, Cherokee$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   An arctic cold front moved into northeastern Oklahoma during the late evening hours of the 11th and had finally passed through the southeastern portion of the state by the evening of the 12th. A strong upper level low pressure system moved into the southern Rockies and several disturbances translated across the Southern Plains bringing periods of heavy sleet and freezing rain to the region. The initial precipitation began around daybreak on the 12th and the final round occurred on the 14th. |A devastating swath of one to three inch ice amounts fell in an estimated 60 to 80 mile wide band from roughly Atoka to McAlester to Muskogee to Grove. An estimated 120,000 electric customers…

6. May 20, 2019Tornado$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. This large tornado developed southwest of the intersection of the N 420 Road and the W 660 Road. It moved northeast snapping and uprooting trees, and destroying outbuildings when it crossed those roads. Significant tree damage occurred as the tornado crossed the W 650 Road and approached Highway 82, where homes and businesses were severely damaged and numerous trees were snapped in Peggs. After moving through Peggs, the tornado continued to move northeast across mainly rural, rugged terrain where significant tree damage was noted for several miles. It crossed the N 495 Road snapping trees, damaging homes, and destroying…

7. Jun 21, 2000Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy thunderstorm rains caused numerous rural roads around the county to be flooded. The flooding caused substantial damage to gravel roads and bridges. One of the major roads which was flooded was Highway 82 north of Tahlequah. Street flooding was also reported in Tahlequah. In addition to the flooding or roads, one mobile home was flooded just east of Tahlequah.

8. Mar 3, 2004Flash Flood$479,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy thunderstorm rains caused extensive flash flooding over the northern part of Cherokee County during the evening and overnight hours. Rainfall totals in this area were in the 3 to 4 inch range with a total of 3.99 inches at Kansas in a neighboring part of Delaware County. Numerous roads were flooded and damaged. One stream on which the flooding was particularly bad was Spring Creek. On it a bridge near Teresita was washed out.

9. Jul 3, 2004Flash Flood$277,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Heavy thunderstorm rains which totaled 3.08 inches at Tahlequah caused extensive flooding of county roads. The flooding was so severe $277,000 damage was done to infrastructure.

10. May 11, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Strong thunderstorm wind destroyed docks at the Snake Creek Marina. An RV was overturned at the Snake Creek RV park, resulting in an injury.

1. Storm Events records before 1996 cover only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail. Damage figures are as reported by the National Weather Service at the time, not adjusted for inflation.

NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 1950 to 2026, issued October 26, 2026.

All-time high

113°FAug 3, 2011

All-time low

−11°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

82°F3 times, most recently Aug 19, 2026

Coldest day

5°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.40 inDec 27, 2015

Hottest year

2024mean 64.2°F

Coldest year

2013mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

201568.75 in

Driest year

200525.80 in

Station Muskogee Davis Field (USW00093953), 602 ft elevation, 27.9 miles from the city centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 27, 2026; 98.9% of days in the last 30 years are complete. Records at a single station can differ from a city’s official threaded record, which may combine several stations.

NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily.

Declarations for Cherokee County.

This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).

OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries, retrieved October 30, 2026. Statewide declarations are not listed.

• Tornadoes NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, through 2025.
• Tropical cyclones NOAA National Hurricane Center HURDAT2 (Atlantic; Northeast and Central Pacific), through 2025.
• Wildfire USGS/USFS Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity, through 2026.
• Storm events NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, through 2026.
• Flood insurance OpenFEMA NFIP Redacted Claims v3, refreshed August 4, 2026.
• Declarations OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries v2, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Weather records NOAA NCEI Global Historical Climatology Network Daily, station USW00093953.
• River crests NOAA National Weather Service, National Water Prediction Service river gauges, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Drought NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county Palmer Drought Severity Index, through September 2026.
• Smoke NOAA NESDIS Hazard Mapping System smoke analysis, retrieved October 30, 2026.
• Landslides USGS Landslide Inventories across the United States, version 3.0 (2025).
• Earthquakes USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog (ComCat), retrieved October 30, 2026.

Joins, thresholds and known limits are set out in the methodology. Found an error? Report it. Page built October 30, 2026.