Choctaw County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Choctaw County: 0.
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.

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 9, 2016Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the second segment of a two segment tornado that began at 624 pm CDT in Bryan County, Oklahoma. The tornado strengthened and widened rapidly after developing southeast of Bennington. It was about 2500 yards wide and was producing EF-2 damage to trees by the time it reached the Choctaw County border at around 627 pm CDT. ||In Choctaw County, the tornado continued to widen as it moved northeast, producing a damage path of about 1.8 miles across, to the southwest of Boswell. The tornado made a turn to the east at the N4000 Road and maintained an eastward movement until dissipating before reaching the N4090 Road. The tornado destroyed at least three mobile homes. Two injuries…

2. Dec 5, 2013Ice Storm, Choctaw$1.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Arctic air spread across eastern Oklahoma on the 4th as a strong storm system developed across the western United States. Several upper level disturbances moved through the south central part of the country on the 5th through the 6th, resulting in widespread wintry precipitation across the region beginning during the morning hours of the 5th. The precipitation fell as mainly freezing rain across southeastern Oklahoma and as snow and sleet across northeastern Oklahoma. The precipitation changed to all snow by the time it ended on the 6th. By the end of the storm, portions of southeastern Oklahoma received over an inch of ice. Power outages were widespread across Choctaw,…

3. Nov 4, 2022Tornado$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed in Lamar County, Texas, and produced EF-4 damage northwest of Paris, and then crossed the Red River into Choctaw County. Extensive tree damage occurred just north of the Red River with numerous hardwood trees snapped from E2150 Road to E2140 Road. The tornado moved northeast, becoming about a mile wide several miles south of Sawyer, and continued to produce a very wide damage swath until a couple miles north of Highway 70. Throughout the path, numerous trees were snapped and uprooted, numerous power poles were snapped, numerous outbuildings were destroyed, and 38 homes were damaged, at least sixteen of which were severely damaged. The tornado dissipated…

4. Dec 27, 2005Wildfire, Choctaw$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large wildfire in southwestern Choctaw County burned more than 1000 acres over a 10 mile swath. Some of the communities near the fire were Unger, Speer and Boswell. At least four homes were destroyed and 2 people were injured.

5. Jun 14, 2008Thunderstorm Wind$480,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind gusts measured to at least 75 mph damaged a power plant near Fort Towson.

6. May 28, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$325,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Thunderstorm wind estimated at 80 miles an hour produced a large amount of damage in the Hugo area. Several businesses including a radio station, lumber company, sale barn, veterinary clinic and a feed lot received damage. Three homes had large trees fall on them. Numerous power poles and power lines were blown down. In addition several trees and large tree limbs blocked roads.

7. May 9, 2016Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed west of Hugo and moved eastward across town. Numerous homes and businesses were damaged, storage buildings were destroyed, trees were uprooted, signs were blown down, and power poles were snapped. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

8. Jan 12, 2007Winter Storm, Choctaw$162,000
   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…

9. Apr 28, 2026Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed west of the 4240 Road, near Pinekke Road. It moved east-southeast snapping large tree limbs and uprooting small trees. The tornado crossed Highway 93 on the northern banks of Lake Hugo, where some trees were uprooted and large tree limbs were snapped. Numerous trees were uprooted and a few were snapped south of Apple, and a home was damaged. It continued to move east-southeast across the E2000 Road, and then crossed Highway 147 before dissipating over rugged terrain. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 95 to 105 mph.

10. Feb 14, 2022Wildfire, Choctaw$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    Unseasonably warm temperatures, very strong southerly wind gusts, and low humidity combined with dormant, dry fine fuels to promote conditions that supported the rapid spread of wildfire across eastern Oklahoma during mid February. Numerous wildfires occurred across the region during this period, but the largest fires affected Choctaw County where over 4100 acres and three structures were burned, Latimer County where over 800 acres were burned, Pittsburg County where over 750 acres were burned, Le Flore County where over 500 acres were burned, and Pushmataha County where over 350 acres and four structures were burned.

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

116°FAug 10, 1936

All-time low

−10°FFeb 2, 1951

Warmest night

83°F2 times, most recently Jul 29, 1924

Coldest day

11°FFeb 16, 2021

Wettest day

8.58 inOct 25, 1991

Snowiest day

9.5 inMar 1, 1942

Hottest year

2012mean 66.0°F

Coldest year

2014mean 60.3°F

Wettest year

195776.45 in

Driest year

200526.65 in

Snowiest season

12.7 in1941-42

Station Antlers (USC00340256), 470 ft elevation, 14.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1918 to October 27, 2026; 90.2% 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 USC00340256.
• 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.