Kay County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Kay County: 20.
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.

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. Jan 30, 2002Ice Storm, Kay$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. Aug 17, 2009Thunderstorm Wind$900,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Widespread wind damage was reported over the southeast parts of Ponca City. The damage area was from S. 8th to S. 13th from South Ave north about 4 to 5 blocks. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Several houses reported at least minor damage, with one home blown off its foundation and losing its roof. Monetary damage is estimated based on figures from Ponca City Emergency Management.

3. Jul 3, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds, gusting as high as 80 mph, lasted for 20 minutes causing damage across town. Large trees were downed. A brick storage building was destroyed. Several car ports were also destroyed.

4. Apr 23, 2026Tornado$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Braman Tornado: Numerous spotters and chasers observed this tornado develop in western Kay County. The initial damage occurred near 140th Street and Earth Road where a tree was uprooted and a farm house suffered roof damage. The tornado continued generally east breaking a power pole on 124th Street south of Earth Road and destroying a barn and damaging more power poles and trees near Earth Road east of 124th Street. The first of two satellite tornadoes developed in this area near Earth Road between 124th and 108th. The primary tornado moved north, then looped back around to an easterly movement as the motion of both the primary tornado and the satellite tornado was influenced by…

5. Dec 27, 2015Ice Storm, Kay$195,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Up to an inch of ice accumulation reported. Two men out duck hunting were killed when their boat capsized on Kaw Lake during the storm. Damage estimates reported by local power companies.

6. Jul 3, 2005Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Roofs were blown off many homes. Windows were blown out of numerous store fronts. An antenna at the police station was blown over. Several power lines and trees were also downed.

7. Apr 14, 2001Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Several campers and farm equipment were blown over. A boat was blown off a trailer. Part of the pavillion roof at Northern Oklahoma College was blown off. A house and shed sustained minor damage, and numerous trees were downed.

8. May 6, 2024Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed west of Kaw Lake near Tower Road and Lake Road, then moved northeast through the Coon Creek Cove area of Kaw Lake producing tree damage, damage to a boat dock, and overturned a camper. The tornado then moved over Kaw Lake and likely dissipated north of the northeastern arm of the lake in northeastern Kay County.

9. Apr 17, 2026Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   While the tornado that formed west of Ponca City was passing to the south of Kaw Lake, observers witnessed a second tornado develop near the southwest portion of Kaw Lake. The witnesses watched the tornado develop on a hill just northwest of McFadden Cove, and then move southeast across Hideaway Marina causing damage to boat shelters and docks at the marina. The tornado continued southeast as a waterspout over the southwestern portion of Kaw Lake, then moved into Osage County just east of the dam. See the Storm Data report from the NWS office in Tulsa for details of this tornado in Osage County.

10. Dec 26, 2000Winter Storm, Kay$100,000
    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…

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°FJul 6, 1996

All-time low

−25°FFeb 10, 2011

Warmest night

85°F3 times, most recently Jul 27, 2011

Coldest day

−1°FDec 22, 1983

Wettest day

8.23 inApr 29, 2012

Snowiest day

11.2 inMar 16, 1970

Hottest year

2012mean 63.3°F

Coldest year

1979mean 55.1°F

Wettest year

199957.60 in

Driest year

200614.00 in

Snowiest season

33.0 in1948-49

Station Ponca City Municipal Airport (USW00013969), 998 ft elevation, 1.4 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 99.6% 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 USW00013969.
• 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.