Ellis County

Every recorded tornado

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

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. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Ellis$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…

2. Feb 27, 2024Wildfire, Ellis$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Catesby Fire' spread over 89,688 acres across northern Ellis County.

3. Mar 1, 2024Wildfire, Ellis$1.3 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Catesby Fire', which began on 27 February 2024, continued to burn into the first days of March 2024. See the February 2024 storm data entry for additional details on this fire.

4. Jan 14, 2017Ice Storm, Ellis$657,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Numerous tree limbs were reported downed by ice. The electric cooperatives reported 1698 power outages, with $657K worth of damages.

5. May 5, 2007Tornado$612,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed 4 miles north-northeast of Roll in northern Roger Mills County and crossed the Canadian River into southern Ellis County at 9:36 pm CDT. Two houses and two mobile homes were destroyed in the Packsaddle area of southern Ellis County to the east of US Highway 283 (about 18 miles south-southwest of Harmon), and a roof was removed from another mobile home. At least one of these homes suffered a complete removal of the roof and some damage to the exterior walls. Several cars were damaged or destroyed, as well as trees and power lines. Monetary values were estimated.

6. Jul 24, 1996Thunderstorm Wind$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorm winds estimated at 70 mph caused major damage in and around Shattuck. Numerous large trees were split, snapped, or uprooted. A brick wall was blown down, and plate glass windows were blown out of a car dealership in Shattuck. The Shattuck Golf Club had the roof torn off the clubhouse and a shed containing golf carts was blown apart. Countless fences and tree limbs throughout town were blown down. Just west of Shattuck, Braum's Farms suffered extensive damage to hay barns and irrigation systems. Other farms, particularly to the west and south of Shattuck, sustained similar damage to outbuildings and irrigation systems.

7. May 23, 2019Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed in Lipscomb County Texas and moved through Beaver County (see Storm Data entries from the NWS Amarillo in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles) before moving into northwest Ellis County. This tornado was surveyed by meteorologists from both the NWS Norman and Amarillo.||Immediately after moving into Ellis County, a home and outbuilding were completely destroyed. An extended cab pickup truck in a carport at this home was blown 0.3 of a mile northeast with some pieces of the truck found over one half mile northeast of the home. Numerous power poles were snapped both north-south along the county line and east-west along county road 30. ||The tornado continued to…

8. May 27, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$125,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A grain elevator was destroyed, and another was damaged. A mobile home was also damaged.

9. May 4, 2007Tornado$110,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Windows were blown out of a house west of Arnett. Surrounding the house, a barn and several outbuildings were destroyed. Farm equipment at the home was also destroyed. Numerous tree limbs and power lines were downed. Monetary damages were estimated.

10. May 18, 2025Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado began near the intersection of E0630 Road and N1760 Road, breaking four power poles and damaging trees. It moved east-northeast along E0630 Road with extensive tree damage noted just east of N1770 Road. The tornado then turned more northeast and moved over open country. For much of the path, there were few if any damage indicators, but drone imagery from surveys by the National Severe Storms Laboratory and Disaster Imaging Inc, as well as visual sightings of the tornado confirms that this tornado was continuous along this 5 mile path. Additional tree damage was noted along E0620 Road as the tornado continued moving northeast, with the most severe damage along N1810…

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°FJul 19, 2022

All-time low

−20°FJan 15, 1905

Warmest night

82°FAug 13, 2026

Coldest day

−1°FFeb 12, 1905

Wettest day

4.94 inMay 7, 1950

Snowiest day

18.0 inFeb 21, 1971

Hottest year

2024mean 62.2°F

Coldest year

1979mean 55.6°F

Wettest year

195734.74 in

Driest year

20117.62 in

Snowiest season

41.3 in1972-73

Station Gage Airport (USW00013975), 2,185 ft elevation, 2.6 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1904 to October 26, 2026; 99.4% 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 USW00013975.
• 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.