50
Recorded events
1
Direct deaths
29
Direct injuries
$7.9M
Property damage
Tornado in Craig County, Oklahoma: 50 recorded events between 1951 and 2019. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #372 nationally and #54 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Craig County, Oklahoma: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Craig County is the 2010s, when 11 of the county's 50 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Craig County archive, tornado makes up 9.0% of all recorded severe weather across 5 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #372 for this hazard and #54 within Oklahoma, putting it in the 86.9 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Craig County with 15 recorded events, while Aug is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-05-10 | EF4 | 75.5 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 1959-09-27 | EF4 | 20.4 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
| 1974-06-08 | EF3 | 63.6 mi | 100 yd | Crossed in |
| 1980-04-07 | EF3 | 24.8 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 1973-09-24 | EF3 | 20.8 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1961-05-07 | EF3 | 8.9 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 1970-06-11 | EF2 | 15.4 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
| 2012-05-01 | EF2 | 1.0 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
| 1996-05-26 | EF2 | 30.0 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1987-11-15 | EF2 | 1.5 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 12, 1970 | F2 | 1 | 1 | $250K | |
| Dec 24, 1982 | F1 | 0 | 10 | $250K | |
| Apr 7, 1980 | F3 | 0 | 4 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 25, 1975 | F2 | 0 | 3 | $250K | |
| Jan 26, 1967 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| May 6, 1960 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $250K | |
| Apr 17, 1960 | F2 | 0 | 2 | $25K | |
| Apr 3, 2015 | KELSO | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $50K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 2019 | TODD | EF1 | $0 |
| May 23, 2019 | VINITA | EF0 | $5K |
| May 22, 2019 | PYRAMID CORNERS | EF1 | $3K |
| May 22, 2019 | CENTRALIA | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 30, 2019 | BLUEJACKET | EF1 | $15K |
| Apr 27, 2016 | WHITE OAK | EF0 | $20K |
| Mar 31, 2016 | CENTRALIA | EF0 | $0 |
| May 17, 2015 | TODD | EF1 | $50K |
| Apr 3, 2015 | KELSO | EF1 | $50K |
| Sep 2, 2014 | WELCH | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Craig County
- Thunderstorm Wind 239
- Hail 222
- Flash Flood 41
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado developed just south of the Oklahoma-Kansas border north-northwest of Welch. It moved rapidly east across northeastern Craig County, intensifying and widening as it moved into Ottawa County. In Craig County, the tornado destroyed several mobile homes, severely damaged about a dozen other homes, snapped or uprooted numerous trees, and blew down power poles and power lines.
A tornado tore the roof off of a permanent home, shifted another permanent home off its foundation and blew out an exterior wall, turned over an outbuilding, rolled two horse trailers, destroyed a 40' by 60' steel-framed barn, and snapped or uprooted a number of hardwood trees. Maximum estimated wind in the tornado based on this damage was 110 to 120 mph.
This is the first segment of a three segment tornado. In Craig County, the tornado first damaged barns and trees at the S 440 Road. It moved east-southeast snapping or uprooting trees and damaging barns and outbuildings along the E 200 Road, the S 440 Road, and the E 230 Road before crossing I-44, where it blew over two tractor trailers, injuring the driver of one of them. Based on this damage, maximum estimated wind in this segment of the tornado was 95 to 105 mph. The tornado continued into Ottawa County, Oklahoma.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Craig County, Oklahoma?
50 tornado events are recorded in Craig County between 1951 and 2019, causing 1 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Craig County?
The strongest tornado on record in Craig County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Craig County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Craig County, Oklahoma.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/oklahoma/craig-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.