Cotton County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Cotton County: 7.
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.

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. Nov 27, 2005Wildfire, Cotton$650,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong surface low pressure moved across the southern and central Plains causing strong sustained surface winds across the western half to two-thirds of Oklahoma with some high wind gusts. National Weather Service weather stations along with the Oklahoma mesonet measured sustained wind speeds ranging from 17 to 30 knots (20-35 mph) on November 27th into the 28th, with numerous wind gusts ranging from 39 to 56 knots(45-65 mph). Winds were initially strong from the south to west then shifted to the north and northwest behind a cold front. The winds began to decrease during the afternoon hours of November 28th as the strong surface low continued to lift away from the area. Wind…

2. May 26, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$600,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five large transmission poles were downed on the north side of Walters. The high school lost about one third of its overlayment on the west side of the gym. Nine homes were destroyed, 6 severely damaged, and 15 with minor to moderate damage. Thirty homes in total were damaged, 20 of them mobile homes.

3. Dec 26, 2000Ice Storm, Cotton$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major winter storm developed during the evening of the 25th across all of western, central, and southeast Oklahoma, with significant accumulations of snow and ice beginning shortly after 0000 CST on the 26th. Mainly snow fell across northwest Oklahoma with accumulations between 8 and 12 inches reported across northern Beckham, Roger Mills, and southern Ellis Counties. Snow amounts varied widely across the rest of northwest Oklahoma with 4 to 8 inches falling across portions of Dewey and Custer Counties, and only 1 to 2 inches across Woods and Alfalfa Counties, however even in areas where snow amounts were light, significant disruptions in travel and power outages were reported.A…

4. Aug 11, 1996Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Power lines were blown down, roofs were blown off of 3 houses including one trailer house, a barn was blown over, and a tree was uprooted. Another house was picked up and moved 6 inches off its foundation. All of the windows in the house were broken.

5. Jan 12, 2007Winter Storm, Cotton$98,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A strong winter storm crippled much of Oklahoma from January 12th through the 14th, spreading snow, freezing rain and sleet across the state. The snow and sleet was confined to northern and western Oklahoma. The freezing rain and sleet occurred mainly over central and southwest Oklahoma, with mainly freezing rain over the southeast. The hardest hit areas with freezing rain were Atoka, Bryan, Coal, Cotton, Hughes, Seminole, and Johnston counties. The wintry precipitation caused numerous traffic accidents with numerous indirect injuries and 14 indirect fatalities. Many trees and powers lines were downed with thousands of residents without power, mainly over southern and eastern…

6. Sep 4, 2023Wildfire, Cotton$95,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Walters Fire' spread over 1,059 acres across northeast Cotton County. End time is approximate.

7. May 23, 2016Thunderstorm Wind$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   There were numerous reports of tree damage, power poles down, and minor roof damage to homes. A couple of small structures, such as storage sheds, were also destroyed. The time of this reported was estimated based on radar.

8. May 13, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$60,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A historic downtown store front was heavily damaged when it caved in due to the strong winds that moved through the town. The store was originally built in 1920.

9. Jun 4, 2020Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several reports of minor roof damage, tree limbs (6-inch diameter) broken, and one 45x50 barn completely demolished. The barn that was destroyed blew across US70 - 1/2 a mile east of SH65, taking down power lines and striking one vehicle that was driving eastbound.

10. May 2, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A semi-trailer was blown over due to thunderstorm winds. The event time and location are estimated from a phone call report and radar observations.

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

117°FJun 28, 1980

All-time low

−12°FJan 4, 1947

Warmest night

88°FJul 26, 2011

Coldest day

9°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.19 inSep 27, 1980

Snowiest day

9.8 inJan 18, 1925

Hottest year

1933mean 67.7°F

Coldest year

1983mean 61.7°F

Wettest year

201547.38 in

Driest year

201112.97 in

Snowiest season

20.0 in1904-05

Station Wichita Falls Municipal Airport (USW00013966), 1,013 ft elevation, 24.9 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1907 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013966.
• 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.