80
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
23
Direct injuries
$9.1M
Property damage
Tornado in Garfield County, Oklahoma: 80 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #113 nationally and #20 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Garfield County, Oklahoma: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Garfield County is the 1960s, when 21 of the county's 80 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 Garfield County archive, tornado makes up 6.4% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #113 for this hazard and #20 within Oklahoma, putting it in the 96.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Apr is the peak month for tornado in Garfield County with 33 recorded events, while Jan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979-05-02 | EF4 | 20.6 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1991-04-26 | EF4 | 66.0 mi | 1,500 yd | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-12 | EF3 | 9.0 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1991-04-26 | EF3 | 6.0 mi | 350 yd | Touched down here |
| 1979-05-02 | EF3 | 8.4 mi | 120 yd | Touched down here |
| 1958-11-17 | EF3 | 39.2 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 1956-04-08 | EF3 | 7.3 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 1956-04-08 | EF3 | 7.7 mi | 400 yd | Touched down here |
| 2016-05-25 | EF2 | 5.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 2009-04-25 | EF2 | 1.5 mi | 30 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 1979 | F4 | 0 | 10 | $250K | |
| Jun 6, 1966 | F2 | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| Apr 9, 1956 | F3 | 0 | 4 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 23, 2026 | (END)VANCE AFB ENID | EF4 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Apr 22, 1964 | F2 | 0 | 1 | $250K | |
| Apr 28, 1955 | F1 | 0 | 1 | $3K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2026 | (END)VANCE AFB ENID | EF4 | $0 |
| Jul 12, 2025 | (END)VANCE AFB ENID | EF0 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | DOUGLAS | EF1 | $0 |
| May 7, 2024 | BISON | EF0 | $5K |
| May 7, 2024 | BISON | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 27, 2024 | HILLSDALE | EF1 | $5K |
| May 20, 2019 | HAYWARD | EF0 | $0 |
| May 26, 2016 | CARRIER | EF2 | $20K |
| May 6, 2015 | CARRIER | EF0 | $0 |
| Apr 26, 2009 | KREMLIN | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Garfield County
- Hail 619
- Thunderstorm Wind 470
- Flash Flood 40
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
A tornado was observed to develop approximately 3 miles west-northwest of Carrier and initially moved northeast. Near the beginning of the tornado path, 19 empty rail cars were blown from a siding onto the main line. A very large tree was downed across Great Lakes Road about 3/4 of a mile west of State Highway 132. Otherwise, the tornado traveled over wheat fields and the specific damage path is estimated, but chaser reports suggest the tornado turned north-northeast and then north after the initial northeast movement, and remained west of State Highway 132.
The tornado initially touched down 3 miles west of Hillsdale causing damage. Several trees had been snapped and large limbs were broken. A wooden shed had parts of its roof and part of an overhang removed. The pieces of the overhang and roof were lying to the south 200 ft and to the east about 250 ft. Several sections of a metal gate (the sections were not attached to any fence) were blown approximately 25 feet. A small hay shed was also destroyed during the storm. One mile north of this location a metal gate had been blown over. The tornado moved north, crossing into Grant county before lifting 4 miles SSE of Nash. The tornado in Garfield produced EF0 damage, causing an estimated $15 thousand in damages. |
The tornado touched down near the expo center in the northwest side of Enid. The southwest corner of the roof of the expo center was removed, and numerous trailers, trees and signs were damaged. The tornado moved north-northeast from the expo center into a neighborhood causing destroying or causing significant damage to a number of trailers, and significant damage to a metal building and trees along with some roof damage to other homes. The tornado then moved into a neighborhood on the west side of the city of North Enid damaging home roofs. The last observed damage was as the tornado crossed Phillips Avenue just east of Highway 81.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Garfield County, Oklahoma?
80 tornado events are recorded in Garfield County between 1955 and 2026, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Garfield County?
The strongest tornado on record in Garfield County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Garfield 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 Garfield County, Oklahoma.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/oklahoma/garfield-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.