Delaware County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Dec 9, 2007Ice Storm, Delaware$35.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

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

2. Feb 1, 2011Blizzard, Delaware$30.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Twelve to eighteen inches of snow fell across the county. Docks on Grand Lake were destroyed by the weight of the snow, which resulted in numerous boats being damaged or destroyed.

3. Mar 12, 2006Tornado$3.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first tornado, which touched down in northwestern Cherokee County, continued into southern Delaware County. Damage suggested the tornado widened and strengthened as it moved through southern Delaware County reaching a maximum width of around 1/4 of a mile. The tornado damaged 95 homes, destroying 42 of those homes. Five businesses were also damaged. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and about 100 power poles were downed, which resulted in more than 5000 people losing power as a result of the storm. The worst damage from this tornado was found from near Twin Oaks to about 4 miles west-southwest of Colcord. The tornado injured eight people.

4. Jan 12, 2007Winter Storm, Delaware$3.0 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…

5. May 22, 2011Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado severely damaged several permanent homes, destroyed boat docks, damaged a number of other permanent homes, destroyed at least seven mobile homes, and snapped or uprooted many large trees. Maximum estimated wind in the tornado based on this damage was about 130 mph. ||The tornado developed south of Cleora and moved almost due east over land. It then moved across a portion of Grand Lake and back over land north of Dennis, where it appeared to move sharply to the southeast across the northern portion of a peninsula. It likely then moved back over Grand Lake where it dissipated. Storm chasers, storm spotters, and a number of citizens witnessed this tornado.

6. May 16, 2003Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A F1 tornado touched down near Flint on Flint Creek or about 5 miles east southeast of community of Kansas. The tornado was on the ground for 3.2 miles and was 200 yards wide. Approximated 30-40 mobile homes and travel trailers were damaged or destroyed. Several automobiles were also damaged.Two people were taken to a hospital due to injuries. However, they were released later in the day.

7. May 22, 2011Tornado$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the first of two segments of this tornado. The tornado developed about 2.5 miles west-southwest of Zena, moved east-northeast across Grand Lake and then south of Zena crossing Highway 59 just north of the intersection with Highway 127. Permanent homes were damaged, barns and outbuildings were destroyed, mobile homes were severely damaged, and large trees were snapped or uprooted. The intensity and width of the tornado increased east of Highway 59 where several permanent homes were severely damaged, two double wide mobile homes were destroyed with only small pieces of debris remaining hundreds of yards from the homesite, and many large trees were snapped or uprooted. This…

8. Mar 12, 2006Tornado$750,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The supercell thunderstorm cycled and a second tornado formed southeast of Colcord while the first tornado was dissipating northeast of town. The second tornado destroyed two chicken houses, damaged homes, destroyed outbuildings, snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and downed power poles.This tornado continued into Benton County, Arkansas from about two miles south of Cherokee City to four miles southwest of Bentonville, producing up to F3 damage on the Fujita Scale. See Storm Data for Arkansas, Northwest for details concerning the Benton County segment.

9. May 22, 2019Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This is the first segment of a two-segment tornado. The tornado developed on the west side of Jay and moved northeast severely damaging two homes and snapping numerous trees and power poles near Highway 59. The tornado continued northeast, destroying two mobile homes and snapping trees and power poles near the intersection of the E 380 Road and S 630 Road. It then moved northeast across heavily wooded terrain, crossed the E 340 Road, and then the E 290 Road. Trees were uprooted, large tree limbs were snapped, power poles were blown down, and outbuildings were damaged by the tornado throughout this wide and lengthy portion of the path. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind…

10. Apr 18, 2013Tornado$400,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado developed along the leading edge of the bow echo. Near the beginning of its track, it destroyed a large swath of hardwood trees and severely damaged a home. Several other homes were damaged by the tornado, barns and outbuildings were destroyed, and power poles were snapped. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in the tornado was 115 to 125 mph.

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

114°F2 times, most recently Aug 10, 1936

All-time low

−25°FJan 22, 1930

Warmest night

89°FAug 2, 1934

Coldest day

3°FJan 15, 2024

Wettest day

8.35 inAug 14, 1961

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 9, 2011

Hottest year

1938mean 64.2°F

Coldest year

2019mean 59.1°F

Wettest year

201981.67 in

Driest year

196318.75 in

Snowiest season

29.0 in1969-70

Station Spavinaw (USC00348380), 685 ft elevation, 15.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1923 to October 27, 2026; 88.3% 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 USC00348380.
• 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.