Hughes County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Hughes County: 8.
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. Jan 28, 2010Ice Storm, Hughes$8.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A quarter to a half of an inch accumulated on most elevated surfaces, resulting in widespread tree and power pole/line damage.

2. Dec 26, 2000Ice Storm, Hughes$3.4 million
   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…

3. Apr 27, 2024Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Spaulding-Holdenville Tornado developed along County Road N369 in the south side of the town of Spaulding and moved north through Spaulding causing roof damage to a few homes and damaging some outbuildings, metal buildings and trees. The damage in and near Spaulding was primarily EF1 damage.||The tornado became wider as it moved north-northeast from Spaulding becoming almost two-thirds of a mile wide as it crossed County Road E135 and a mile wide as it moved north of County Road E134. Most of the damage west of Holdenville was between Spaulding Road and County Road N369 missing the most populated part of Holdenville to the west and the missing the Davis Correctional Facility…

4. Dec 27, 2005Wildfire, Hughes$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A wildfire in Hughes county burned approximately 10,000 acres resulting in the damage of 8 homes, 14 barns, and 20 small outbuildings. An elderly man was also killed by this fire when he tried to assist family members whose homes were in the path of the fire. The man suffered smoke inhalation and burns. This fire caused damages in excess of $800,000.

5. Jan 12, 2007Winter Storm, Hughes$472,000
   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. Apr 19, 2025Tornado$400,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado began south of Spaulding, moving to the north into Spaulding and then northeast. EF1 damage was found in Spaulding at a manufactured home which suffered major damage along E138 Road where one man was killed and a woman injured. Several homes had at least minor damage, with several homes losing roofs, windows, and walls.

7. Apr 23, 1999Flood, Hughes$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Five to 7 inches of rain fell across portions of central Oklahoma from the 24th through the 26th. Local amounts of rainfall exceeded 10 inches from near Allen in Pontotoc County northeast to near Calvin in Hughes County. The worst damage from flooding occurred in Lincoln and Hughes Counties. Six county bridges were partially eroded during the flooding in Lincoln County where repair costs are estimated at a half million dollars. Bridges known to be damaged include one on SH18 near the Deep Fork River, and the Chuckaho Bridge south of Davenport. At least 2 bridges are known to have been damaged in Hughes County, one north and one south of Holdenville, where repair costs are near 300…

8. Mar 12, 2024Wildfire, Hughes$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Lamar Castle Fire' spread over 903 acres across central Hughes County.

9. Jun 22, 2026Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Wetumka tornado began at 310 AM CDT just south of SH 9 to the west of Wetumka. The tornado then produced damage to trees and power lines near the intersection of SH 9 and SH 27, before moving eastward. The most intense damage was consistent with EF1 damage, with trees and power pole damage just southeast of the Wetumka city limits. South of SH 9 and along N 381 Road, there were a few trees uprooted as well.

10. May 20, 2001Tornado$175,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A damage survey conducted by National Severe Storms Laboratory meteorologists confirmed F2 damage approximately 6 miles southwest of Dustin, when 80 percent of a house roof was blown off. As the tornado moved east-northeast sporadic roof damage was sustained to other homes; an antenna was wrapped around a telephone pole; trees were damaged; farm buildings were destroyed; power poles were bent, and two feeders were bent up. The tornado then tracked into McIntosh County. See storm data from the National Weather Service Office in Tulsa for more information on the McIntosh County segment of this tornado. Eye witnesses described the tornado as multiple-vortex.

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

−14°FJan 10, 1977

Warmest night

87°FJun 12, 1897

Coldest day

7°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

8.06 inOct 13, 1981

Snowiest day

12.0 inFeb 18, 1921

Hottest year

1911mean 65.7°F

Coldest year

1979mean 58.6°F

Wettest year

201578.65 in

Driest year

196320.71 in

Snowiest season

21.3 in1977-78

Station Mcalester Regional Airport (USW00093950), 753 ft elevation, 33.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1893 to October 26, 2026; 99.2% 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 USW00093950.
• 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.