Seminole County

Every recorded tornado

1. Injuries and deaths are for the tornado’s whole path, which may extend beyond the county. Deaths recorded within Seminole 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 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, Seminole$2.0 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. Aug 26, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$500,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered thunderstorms produced isolated straight-line wind damage and lightning strikes across portions of central and southern Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 26th and the early morning of the 27th. In Konowa in Seminole County, a portion of the roof was torn off of the junior high and high school, exposing various equipment to rain, flooding three rooms, and causing extensive water damage to several others; three 5-ton air conditioning units on the school's roof were blown away, and numerous trees were downed, while in Yukon in Canadian County, straight-line winds measured between 60 mph and 70 mph, blew a barn over, damaged several other barns, and damaged…

3. May 4, 2022Tornado$300,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A long track tornado began between Maud and Seminole, before making a north to northeast path of damage across Seminole County. The most extensive damage was to buildings just east of downtown Seminole, as well as near the Seminole Academy. Buildings had the roofs removed from the tornado, and some buildings had exterior walls damaged. As the tornado moved to the northeast, it produced sporadic damage to mainly rural areas northeast of Seminole.

4. May 16, 1999Thunderstorm Wind$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms formed over portions of western Oklahoma during the evening of the 16th, and moved into portions of central Oklahoma during the early morning of the 17th. In Beckham County, several trees and a mobile home were blown over in Sayre, and in Elk City, two barns were blown down; trees were uprooted, and the Grandview Assembly of God Church was damaged. A trampoline was destroyed at Sander Sporting Goods and ATV's in Seiling in Dewey County. A power pole was blown over onto a small building in Mangum in Greer County. Numerous trees were downed in Watonga in Blaine County. Large tree limbs and a fence were blown down at the intersection of 14th and Hermosa in…

5. Apr 26, 1998Flash Flood$165,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Rainfall amounts upwards of 3 inches caused widespread creek, ditch, and street flooding across Seminole County. Numerous driveways built across ditches (tinhorns) across the county were washed out and several roads were closed. Tragically, a mother and her two children drowned in a swolen creek. Investigators determined that flooding was not the direct cause of the accident since she was not washed off the road; rather, she had simply driven off of the roadway in the darkness and the family was not able to escape the vehicle.

6. May 29, 2012Thunderstorm Wind$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A metal canopy was flipped, causing damage to the main airplane hangar at Seminole airport including minor damage to several planes. Several small trees were blown down along with one power pole. Two portable buildings were also destroyed. Monetary damages are estimated.

7. May 2, 2022Tornado$150,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The first damage took the form of broken branches about 5.5 miles west southwest of Seminole and less than a mile east of the Pottawatomie County line. The most intense damage occurred along EW1250 road east of NS3510 Rd where numerous oak trees were snapped and uprooted with large limbs blown downwind. A house in the vicinity lost several courses of shingles which appeared to be higher than the typical quality of shingles. An outbuilding near the residence was leveled and debris blown downwind. Farther east on NS3550 Rd, a small stretch of trees exhibited the most intense damage with roughly 50% of them uprooted or snapped. Finally, the last tree damage occurred one mile…

8. Aug 23, 1999Lightning$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Scattered thunderstorms formed over portions of central and southern Oklahoma during the evening of the 23rd, producing isolated wind damage, large hail, and lightning strikes. Across Hughes County 3 miles west of Wetumka, several window panes were blown out; trees were uprooted; roofs were blown off of several outbuildings, and 2 barns were destroyed, while in Wewoka in Seminole County, numerous trees and powerlines were blown down; several roofs and the wall of a building were damaged; and lightning struck an occupied house, igniting a fire which completely destroyed the house. Lightning also struck several power lines throughout Wewoka. Seven power poles were downed 5 miles…

9. Jun 19, 2019Tornado$100,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A tornado developed within a squall line just northwest of the town of Konawa and moved east-southeast through the north side of Konawa. Numerous trees were downed and fell into homes creating significant roof and siding damage.

10. May 4, 2022Tornado$100,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    This tornado touched down southwest of Cromwell with the first damage noted near the intersection of county roads NS3660 and EW1180 where tree limb damage was produced. The tornado moved northeast causing scattered tree damage before moving into Cromwell. The tornado had grown to be around 600 yards wide by the time it reached Cromwell and damage was noted over a wide area of the town. The roof and walls of one mobile home was destroyed and other mobile homes were damaged, an RV was flipped over, and at least one house suffered roof damage. There was also significant tree damage at various locations in town. The tornado moved northeast through town, and then turned toward the…

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.

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.
• 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.