Woods County

Every recorded tornado

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

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 23, 2016Wildfire, Woods$1.0 million
   National Weather Service narrative

   Damages are a very rough estimate. Officials reported over 1,000 bales of hay, hundreds of miles of fence line and approximately 600 cattle lost in the Oklahoma portion of the fire. Kansas and Oklahoma officials reported 16 residential structures and 25 other minor structures were destroyed. There have been no reports of injuries or fatalities.

2. Jan 14, 2017Ice Storm, Woods$984,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The electric cooperatives reported over 1000 power outages, likely due to icing, with damage estimates to $984K.

3. May 31, 1999Hail$200,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Severe thunderstorms affected much of western Oklahoma and portions of central Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of May 31st, and the early morning of June 1st. Although 7 tornadoes were confirmed across western Oklahoma, all on the 31st, only 2 of them caused damage. The most extensive damage during this severe weather outbreak was caused by straight-line winds and occurred across southern Kiowa and western Comanche Counties during the evening of the 31st. A very large swath of damaging straight-line winds developed on the west side of Tom Steed Lake in southern Kiowa County and expanded in coverage as it moved through all of southern Kiowa County, at times 10 to 15 miles…

4. Nov 27, 2015Ice Storm, Woods$84,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Observed 0.25 inches of ice accumulation. Damage estimates are from local power cooperatives.

5. Jun 17, 2004Lightning$75,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   Lightning struck an empty fiberglass saltwater storage tank causing an explosion at the newly opened Green Valley Saltwater Disposal Plant east of Waynoka on Highway 281. The explosion caused nearly full reclaimed oil storage tanks to catch on fire and burn for much of the night. Some nearby equipment was also destroyed by the fire.

6. Jul 22, 2000Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A house and business were destroyed when their roofs were blown off, and numerous trees and power lines were downed.

7. May 25, 1998Thunderstorm Wind$55,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   A large complex of severe thunderstorms moved from southern Kansas into northern and central Oklahoma during the evening of May 24th and the early morning of May 25th, resulting in 16 tornadoes, most of which occurred in Grant County. The strongest tornado, an F3, occurred near Lamont in Grant County. There were also reports of hail up to 3.5 inches in diameter, straight line wind damage, and flooding. The first tornado, an F0, touched down in an open field 1 mile south of Amorita in Alfalfa County at 1745 CST lasting for less than one minute with no reports of damage. The second tornado, also an F0, was reported 5 minutes later by media chasers to have touched down in an open…

8. Apr 6, 2024Wildfire, Woods$54,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Avard Fire' spread over 1,286 acres across portions of central Woods County. End time is approximated.

9. Feb 26, 2024Wildfire, Woods$53,000
   National Weather Service narrative

   The 'Copenhaver Fire' spread over 500 acres across southern Woods County. Containment/end time is approximated.

10. Jun 7, 2025Thunderstorm Wind$50,000
    National Weather Service narrative

    A swath of significant thunderstorm wind damage occurred across portions of northeastern Woods County during the early morning of the 7th. Initial damage occurred along Major Road, just southwest of the community of Winchester. Here, a small metal outbuilding was destroyed along with several large tree limbs blown down. Trees were uprooted at several properties near/along U.S. Highway 281, north of the community of Alva. Additional damage occurred in the community of Capron, including several electrical poles that were broken and/or leaning and additional tree damage. The damage path is estimated, and the event time is estimated from radar observations. Damage photos were relayed…

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°F4 times, most recently Jul 11, 2009

All-time low

−21°FFeb 10, 2011

Warmest night

84°FJul 28, 2011

Coldest day

3°FDec 22, 1989

Wettest day

5.83 inJun 11, 2005

Snowiest day

17.0 in2 times, most recently Mar 28, 2009

Hottest year

1953mean 63.1°F

Coldest year

2014mean 56.7°F

Wettest year

195747.58 in

Driest year

195412.88 in

Snowiest season

54.0 in1987-88

Station Waynoka (USC00349404), 1,508 ft elevation, 16.3 miles from the population centre. Daily records from 1938 to October 27, 2026; 95.0% 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 USC00349404.
• 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.