Pottawatomie County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Pottawatomie County: 9.
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. Dec 26, 2000Ice Storm, Pottawatomie$7.0 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…

2. Apr 19, 2023Tornado$4.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   The Shawnee Tornado was the seventeenth tornado of this outbreak. This large, mulitple-vortex tornado initially developed near New Hope Road and Gaddy Road just southeast of Bethel Acres. It moved northeast quickly become a large tornado with a width of up to 1.3 miles. The tornado moved northeast into Shawnee, then turned north moving through western and northern portions of Shawnee with damage at Oklahoma Baptist University, areas near the Shawnee Mall near Interstate 40 and Kickapoo Street, and numerous locations in Shawnee. The large tornado continued north and north-northwest producing damage along both Kickapoo Street and Leo Road all the way north to the Lincoln County…

3. Oct 4, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major severe weather outbreak occurred across western and central Oklahoma from the afternoon of the 4th through the early morning of the 5th, resulting in 19 tornadoes, straight-line wind damage, hail as large as baseballs, and significant flooding across portions of Lincoln and Noble Counties, where numerous costly bridges were destroyed.Thunderstorms first developed over northwest Oklahoma during the early and mid-afternoon where hail larger than golf balls was reported in Major and Woodward Counties. The first of 19 tornadoes occurred at 1425 CST in Woods County 11 miles south-southwest of Dacoma. A media storm chaser observed this multiple vortex tornado as it touched down…

4. Oct 4, 1998Tornado$1.5 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major severe weather outbreak occurred across western and central Oklahoma from the afternoon of the 4th through the early morning of the 5th, resulting in 19 tornadoes, straight-line wind damage, hail as large as baseballs, and significant flooding across portions of Lincoln and Noble Counties, where numerous costly bridges were destroyed.Thunderstorms first developed over northwest Oklahoma during the early and mid-afternoon where hail larger than golf balls was reported in Major and Woodward Counties. The first of 19 tornadoes occurred at 1425 CST in Woods County 11 miles south-southwest of Dacoma. A media storm chaser observed this multiple vortex tornado as it touched down…

5. Aug 26, 2019Lightning$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Large 10,000 sq. ft. home was struck by lightning and burned down as thunderstorms moved through the area. Time of strike and damage costs estimated.

6. Oct 4, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   A major severe weather outbreak occurred across western and central Oklahoma from the afternoon of the 4th through the early morning of the 5th, resulting in 19 tornadoes, straight-line wind damage, hail as large as baseballs, and significant flooding across portions of Lincoln and Noble Counties, where numerous costly bridges were destroyed.Thunderstorms first developed over northwest Oklahoma during the early and mid-afternoon where hail larger than golf balls was reported in Major and Woodward Counties. The first of 19 tornadoes occurred at 1425 CST in Woods County 11 miles south-southwest of Dacoma. A media storm chaser observed this multiple vortex tornado as it touched down…

7. May 3, 1999Tornado$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Tornado D2. See summary at end of May 3rd storm reports.

8. Mar 24, 2002Thunderstorm Wind$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The roofs of four buildings at Remington Place Apartments were blown off, affecting 56 residences.

9. Feb 26, 2023Tornado$250,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   This tornado developed just north of the Shawnee Mall on the north side of Shawnee and raced to the north-northeast creating tree damage and damage to a pivot irrigator. Several power poles were damaged along Wolverine Road near Harrison Avenue before the tornado turned northeast moving through a neighborhood near Moccassin Trail Road and Bryan Road. Several homes in this neighborhood had significant roof damage with at least one home losing its entire roof. The tornado continues producing tree, power pole, fence and outbuilding damage before crossing into Lincoln County near Brangus Road.

10. Aug 19, 2007Flash Flood$250,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A couple of feet of water covered the wastewater treatment plant. Several outlets, fans, and pumps were damaged as a result. The Tecumseh High School had one inch of water in several classrooms. Five feet of water accumulated at Broadway and Tecumseh. Water was over the vehicle roofs near the US 177 interchange. Five residences received minor flood damage. A couple of residents had to be rescued from their home, as well as 5 people from their vehicles due to the high water. Numerous streets were flooded in Shawnee as well due to the high water. The southern portions of Pottawatomie county had extensive fence damage due to baled hay and other debris being washed through them.…

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°FAug 3, 2012

All-time low

−14°FFeb 16, 2021

Warmest night

84°FAug 3, 2012

Coldest day

3°FDec 24, 1983

Wettest day

7.62 inJun 14, 2010

Snowiest day

13.5 inDec 24, 2009

Hottest year

2012mean 64.2°F

Coldest year

1968mean 58.2°F

Wettest year

200756.95 in

Driest year

195417.84 in

Snowiest season

24.4 in1967-68

Station Oklahoma City Will Rogers World (USW00013967), 1,279 ft elevation, 36.8 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1948 to October 26, 2026; 100.0% 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 USW00013967.
• 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.