Harper County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Harper 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 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, Harper$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. Jan 1, 2006Drought, Harper$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions persisted and expanded across the area into the first month of the new year. Drought levels ranged from severe to exceptional (D2-D4), with the driest conditions in southeast Oklahoma. Some precipitation did fall during the month, mainly in the form of snow, which did not do much to alleviate the dry conditions over the area. The new year started off with a bang with a major wildfire event occurring across the area on New Year's Day due to strong winds, some gusting over 50 mph, and low humidities. The biggest fire occurred in Kingfisher county where more than 31,360 across were burned. Another large fire occurred on January 1st in the Arbuckle Mountains of…

3. Mar 1, 2006Drought, Harper$5.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Drought conditions were alleviated somewhat due to several rain events and some snowfall during the month. However, conditions still continued in the severe (D2) category across the majority of the area. The drought conditions along with warm temperatures and several days of gusty winds continued to cause problems for firefighters with many wildfires occurring across the area. More than 13,000 acres were burned on March 1st with the largest fires occurring in central Oklahoma in Lincoln county and in southwest Oklahoma in Stephens county. Numerous structures were destroyed and one firefighter was killed. Refer to the wildfire entry on March 1, 2006 for further details. Many more…

4. Jan 14, 2017Ice Storm, Harper$4.1 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Reports of 0.5 inches of ice accumulation. Tree limbs up to 12 inches in diameter broken. Electric cooperatives reported 1891 power outages, with damages in excess of $4088K.

5. Apr 1, 2006Drought, Harper$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Despite some rainfall across portions of Oklahoma, the drought across the area persisted and actually worsened from a severe (D2) drought to an extreme (D3) drought across most of the area by the end of the month. The drought conditions continued to cause an increased wildfire potential, especially during the first part of the month, with many wildfires occurring across the western half of Oklahoma. One of the worst days for wildfires for the month was on April 6, 2006 due to strong winds, warm temperatures, and dry conditions. A fire near Cement in Caddo county caused the evacuation of the town and burned at least 7 homes. Another fire near Newcastle in McLain county caused an…

6. Mar 4, 2004Flood, Harper$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   On March 4-5, a front progressed slightly northward and an upper level system triggered a round of thunderstorms mainly during the afternoon and evening of March 4. The focus of the very heavy rainfall was along a 100-mile wide swath along and northwest of Interstate 44 from southwestern through central and north central Oklahoma. Rainfall amounts of 2.5 to 5 inches were common with locally heavier amounts up to 8 inches observed in Kingfisher and Blaine counties. A second smaller band of heavy precipitation also fell over northwestern Oklahoma from near Gage to near Freedom Oklahoma. Rainfall totals of 2.5 to 5 inches were observed across this area.The areas most affected by the…

7. Jan 1, 2007Drought, Harper$775,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe to extreme (D2-D3) drought conditions were seen across much of the northern half of Oklahoma during the month of January. However, much needed precipitation during the latter half of the month, mainly in some form of winter precipitation, allowed for these areas to improve to just severe conditions (D2). This also allowed for an improvement to areas farther south that were in D2 drought conditions during the month of December. The winter storm from the 12th through the 14th provided much needed precipitation to improve these areas to D1 or less. |The drought has been ongoing for over a year now, which continues the water worries over many communities. Lake levels remain at…

8. Mar 20, 2024Wildfire, Harper$428,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Cimarron Bluff Fire' spread over 4,113 acres across eastern Harper County.

9. Mar 27, 2009Blizzard, Harper$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Snowfall totals of 23 inches were reported two miles south of Buffalo, with 24 inches in Laverne. Some of the snow drifts were well over six feet deep. The weight of the snowfall on roofs caused roofs of some buildings to collapse in the Laverne and Buffalo areas. Although much of the damage was reported to outbuildings and barns, a partial roof collapse of the Grace Living Center nursing occurred. No injuries were reported at the nursing home. Power was knocked out for several hours. A few power poles were knocked down by winds that gusted well over 40 mph for several hours. Visibilities were less than a quarter of a mile for several hours, with some areas reporting near zero…

10. Jun 17, 2023Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    As a tornado was dissipating north of Laverne, damaging winds from this supercell produced widespread roof, tree and power line damage in Laverne. A number of homes and buildings throughout town suffered roof damage, and multiple power poles were downed in Laverne as well as to the east along State Highway 149.

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

113°F3 times, most recently Jun 27, 2011

All-time low

−25°FJan 19, 1984

Warmest night

86°FJun 22, 1974

Coldest day

3°F4 times, most recently Jan 25, 2026

Wettest day

4.81 inMay 16, 1989

Snowiest day

21.0 inNov 25, 1992

Hottest year

1963mean 61.2°F

Coldest year

2008mean 55.6°F

Wettest year

202333.06 in

Driest year

201211.39 in

Snowiest season

69.1 in1992-93

Station Gate (USC00343489), 2,250 ft elevation, 17.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1959 to March 31, 2026; 95.0% 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 USC00343489.
• 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.