Beckham County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Beckham County: 1.
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.

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

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.

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.

Every earthquake of magnitude 4 or more within 50 miles

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 county boundary (or inside the county).
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.

More event types since 1996

Costliest events since 1996

1. May 16, 2017Tornado$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Elk City tornado initially developed near the North Fork of the Red River about 3 miles northwest of Carter. Damage was primarily to trees and power poles for the first few miles as it moved northeast approaching State Highway 34.||One fatality occurred on State Highway 34 (Merritt Road) south of State Highway 152 when his vehicle was impacted by the tornado. According to law enforcement, the victim had been in a mobile home, then left in his vehicle to try and find more substantial shelter. He had returned to his mobile home and it's believed he was still in the vehicle when the tornado hit.||Moving northeast, permanent homes and mobile homes were damaged, and damage…

2. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Beckham$25.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Freezing rain began across the northwest third of the state during the evening of the 29th with significant accumulations of ice developing shortly after midnight on the 30th. Freezing rain shifted southward during the early morning of the 30th with moderate to occasionally heavy freezing rain occurring in a 50 to 60 mile wide band, extending from north central Oklahoma, near Ponca City and Perry, southwestward toward Enid, Kingfisher, Oklahoma City, Weatherford, Anadarko, and Hobart. In many areas, the freezing rain continued for 12 to 24 hours, with ice accumulations of 1 to 2 inches commonly observed. As the end of the storm neared, freezing rain transitioned to sleet and snow…

3. May 5, 2007Tornado$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the first tornado that occurred in Oklahoma with the southern tornadic supercell. The tornado appears to have developed 1/2 mile north of E1130 road and along Highway 30 in northern Beckham County, about 2 1/2 miles south of Sweetwater. The first evidence of a tornado was damage to an outbuilding at a gas facility on the west side of the highway along with some tree damage. The tornado moved north along and parallel to Highway 30, damaging trees, homes and some outbuildings. Damage in this area was mainly in the EF0 range. ||The most significant damage occurred when the tornado struck the Sweetwater school. At this location, the tornado is estimated to have been 100-150…

4. May 12, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$3.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Signs were blown onto Interstate 40 near exit 26. The west bound lanes had to be closed briefly as a result. Monetary damages were estimated.

5. Dec 27, 2015Ice Storm, Beckham$1.6 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damage estimates reported by local power companies.

6. Apr 15, 2003Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado moved from 2 miles SSW to 0.5 miles SSE of Sweetwater causing major damage to portions of the Sweetwater school. A man received minor injuries when the trailer he was in rolled before coming to rest next to a fence. Several fence posts that had been cemented into the ground at the baseball field were uprooted and a forty foot by forty foot barn was destroyed.

7. May 23, 2015Flash Flood$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous homes flooded with water rescues ongoing.

8. Jun 5, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The roof of the Lincoln Teen Center was mostly removed by the strong winds, with another sustaining major damage. Numerous trees were blown down and several dumpsters were blown over. High voltage transmission structures and power lines were blown down. The Holiday Inn sign was also blown down. Monetary damages were estimated.

9. May 23, 2015Flash Flood$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Significant flash flooding in Elk City. Numerous roads closed and impassable. Several water rescues occurred with water flooding several homes.

10. Nov 3, 2005Wildfire, Beckham$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A wildfire began 4 miles west of Erick during the early afternoon of November 3rd. Winds gusting to 40 mph and dry conditions helped this fire spread rapidly eventually burning an area 7 miles long and 2 miles wide. Firefighter from Beckham county, Roger Mills county, the U.S. Forestry Service and several Texas fire departments were used to fight the fire. A National Guard helicopter was also called in to dump water on the blaze. The fire destroyed one home along with several barns and abandoned farmhouses. The smoke from this fire was seen for miles and affected Interstate 40 for a time.

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

112°FJul 19, 2022

All-time low

−6°FFeb 15, 2021

Warmest night

84°FJul 20, 2022

Coldest day

7°F2 times, most recently Jan 24, 2026

Wettest day

6.35 inMay 31, 1968

Snowiest day

9.2 inFeb 4, 1964

Hottest year

2012mean 63.6°F

Coldest year

1968mean 57.5°F

Wettest year

201538.81 in

Driest year

20039.05 in

Station Clinton-sherman Airport (USW00003932), 1,918 ft elevation, 17.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1958 to October 26, 2026; 98.7% 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.

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.

Neighbouring counties

• 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 USW00003932.
• 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.
• 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.