Payne County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Payne County: 2.
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. Mar 14, 2025Wildfire, Payne$15.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Stillwater Fire burned 21,000 acres in western and central Payne County, including western portions of the city of Stillwater. The included monetary loss/property damage figure is approximate; additional assessment is ongoing.

2. Jun 26, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$800,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Eight light aircraft were damaged, including at least one that was overturned, along with damage to the roof of an airport hangar at Stillwater Regional Airport. The event time is estimated based on radar observations and wind gust observations from the collocated ASOS.

3. Jun 2, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tree damage was reported around town. Several homes sustained roof damage along with 3 businesses which lost part of their roofs.

4. Jun 26, 2026Thunderstorm Wind$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The roof of an apartment building was significantly damaged by thunderstorm winds. The event time is estimated based on radar observations.

5. Dec 26, 2000Winter Storm, Payne$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…

6. May 3, 1999Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado B20 (Payne County portion). On January 10,2001 tornadoes B20 and B21 were combined and will be identified as B20. Tornado B21 no longer exists. See summary at end of May 3rd storm reports for more information.

7. Jul 17, 1997Lightning$80,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck and set fire to a house, destroying the home and its contents.

8. Jun 2, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Strong winds caused damage across the town. Roofs were blown off three barns. Numerous 4-5 inch diameter tree limbs were downed along with a cedar tree 16-18 inches in diameter snapped off about 8 feet above ground. A mobile home had part of its metal roof taken off along with a quarter of the shingles off the north side of another mobile home to the south. Many homes across town also sustained shingle damage. The north facing overhead door to the VoAg building was blown in while the south door was bent out. However...these were not detached. A pontoon boat was also flipped and blown into the street.

9. Jun 2, 2004Thunderstorm Wind$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Wind gusts caused minor damage to several dorms and the stadium at Oklahoma State University. An 18 by 24 foot roof structure that covers the boiler and water reservoir at a Best Western was also heavily damaged. Widespread tree damage was reported around town.

10. Apr 23, 1999Flood, Payne$75,000
    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…

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°FAug 1, 2012

All-time low

−21°FFeb 10, 2011

Warmest night

88°FAug 2, 2012

Coldest day

5°FFeb 15, 2021

Wettest day

6.47 inJun 1, 2007

Hottest year

2024mean 64.4°F

Coldest year

1997mean 57.9°F

Wettest year

201952.57 in

Driest year

200318.85 in

Station Stillwater Regional Airport (USW00003965), 961 ft elevation, 6.7 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1996 to October 26, 2026; 98.9% 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 USW00003965.
• 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.