95
Recorded events
9
Direct deaths
154
Direct injuries
$40.4M
Property damage
Tornado in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma: 95 recorded events between 1953 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F5. That places the county #64 nationally and #9 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Pottawatomie County is the 2020s, when 30 of the county's 95 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 Pottawatomie County archive, tornado makes up 13.3% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #64 for this hazard and #9 within Oklahoma, putting it in the 97.8 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
May is the peak month for tornado in Pottawatomie County with 45 recorded events, while Jul 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960-05-05 | EF5 | 71.8 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1970-10-05 | EF4 | 25.0 mi | 150 yd | Touched down here |
| 2013-05-19 | EF4 | 23.0 mi | 1,500 yd | Crossed in |
| 1957-09-14 | EF4 | 67.5 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 2010-05-10 | EF4 | 22.3 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1960-05-04 | EF4 | 8.0 mi | 10 yd | Touched down here |
| 2023-04-19 | EF3 | 0.6 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
| 2010-05-10 | EF3 | 37.2 mi | 2,200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2010-05-10 | EF3 | 6.5 mi | 880 yd | Touched down here |
| 1998-10-04 | EF3 | 10.0 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 5, 1970 | F4 | 4 | 80 | $25.0M | |
| May 19, 2013 | PINK | EF4 | 2 | 6 | $0 |
| Sep 14, 1957 | F4 | 2 | 6 | $250K | |
| May 4, 1999 | SHAWNEE | F2 | 1 | 10 | $500K |
| May 24, 2011 | DALE | EF2 | 0 | 32 | $0 |
| May 18, 1981 | F3 | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| May 10, 2010 | DALE | EF3 | 0 | 3 | $0 |
| May 9, 1965 | F2 | 0 | 3 | $25K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 2026 | AYDELOTTE | EF1 | $150K |
| Apr 3, 2026 | DALE | EF0 | $20K |
| Jan 8, 2026 | SHAWNEE | EF1 | $100K |
| Jan 8, 2026 | PINK | EF1 | $75K |
| Nov 3, 2024 | TROUSDALE | EFU | $0 |
| Nov 3, 2024 | WANETTE | EF0 | $10K |
| Apr 26, 2024 | JOHNSON | EF1 | $15K |
| Apr 26, 2024 | SHAWNEE | EF0 | $30K |
| Apr 26, 2024 | DALE | EF1 | $5K |
| Apr 26, 2024 | PINK | EF0 | $5K |
Other hazards here
More from Pottawatomie County
- Hail 359
- Thunderstorm Wind 203
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The large tornado moved east-northeast into Pottawatomie County then curving northeast as it approached State Highway 102. The tornado moved through a mobile home park north of Independence Road after crossing State Highway 102. Just northeast of the mobile home park, a permanent home was destroyed with much of the debris blown well to the northeast. It continued northeast crossing Interstate 40 near the intersection of US-177, then curved north-northeast finally dissipating near Wolverine Road and Coker Road. One fatality occurred in the mobile home park, and another man was killed in his vehicle.
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 line. The tornado moved into Lincoln County just west of Kickapoo Street and dissipated soon after.
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.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma?
95 tornado events are recorded in Pottawatomie County between 1953 and 2026, causing 9 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Pottawatomie County?
The strongest tornado on record in Pottawatomie County measured F5.
Where does the tornado data for Pottawatomie 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 Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/oklahoma/pottawatomie-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.